Redemption
by Lunahras
Summary: She was dead. His Kyouko. Gone. Suddenly, Sawada Tsunayoshi finds himself plunging deeper than he ever thought possible into the darkness of the Underworld and dragging his friends along with him, where he strives to redeem not just himself but his entire famiglia - all the while trying to suppress his thirst for revenge. Will he survive? Or will he destroy himself in the process?
1. Night of Despair

It was a beautiful evening. The sun had almost completely set, leaving the sky painted in shades of pink, orange and purple, getting darker the further up you looked, and the hills at the outskirts of town were seemingly blanketed in fire, glowing in fiery, wild tones of orange and gold. From the ceiling-high windows of the only Italian restaurant in Namimori, this view was utterly unobstructed and more than ready to leave any unprepared client of the not-too-classy-yet-not-too-casual establishment utterly breathless.

It was the perfect setting for a date.

And yet, Sawada Tsunayoshi could not bring himself to enjoy it.

A week ago, he'd _finally_ (About time, Dame-Tsuna.) finished working up the courage to ask his Sun Guardian's sister, Kyouko, out on a date. Yes, all-powerful Vongola Decimo (candidate!), who had gone through countless battles and prevailed, had needed three years to ask friendly, cheerful, doe-eyed Sasagawa Kyouko out.

Yet the day after, he'd started getting faint nudges and hints from his subconscious that he'd long since started to relate to his Hyper Intuition acting up, which left him antsy. To his frustration, throughout the whole week, nothing happened, but the nudges where starting to turn into a full-out headache that the handful of painkillers he'd taken before walking out of his home could just barely restrain.

Therefore, instead of relaxing and enjoying his very first date, he was forced to be on the constant lookout for trouble while donning a cheerful mask in front of his date. He may have agreed to inform her of all the trouble he got into whenever she was involved, but that did not mean that he _wanted _her to be involved. At best, he was hoping to deal with whatever it was when Kyouko was not present.

But when did Fate ever listen to his pleas?

Just as he'd been starting to relax into the conversation she was successfully trying to pull him into, she had to depart for the bathroom for a short while. His Hyper Intuition flared and he looked around, searching for something amiss, but finding nothing. It was just the usual scene inside a restaurant: people sitting at tables, eating and talking and generally having a good time, waiters walking from table to kitchen to other table like bees at the orders of their queen, guards in black suits standing inconspicuously at different spots of the restaurant- wait, guards? There hadn't been guards before. Plus the whole group seemed to be composed of foreigners...

Oh hell.

At the same time that thought shot through his head, a bullet shot through the air.

And all hell broke loose.

* * *

Kyouko was having the time of her life, her mood only slightly dampened by the fact that Tsuna-kun apparently wasn't. She'd enjoyed every moment of the evening and basked in the calming warmth he seemed to radiate. She'd cheered inwardly when she'd managed to shift his attention completely to their conversation and away from whatever was worrying him and had been very regretful to have to leave for the bathroom, if only shortly. But, hey, when a girl has her needs, she has her needs.

Therefore she had definitely not expected the sight that awaited her outside of the bathroom. It was total chaos. Screams, some angry and some terrified, the sound of very valuable objects breaking, and, most importantly, gunshots. She finally connected the dots when she saw a swarm of men in black suits, holding _guns_, chasing after a trail of blazing flames.

Now, Kyouko liked to think herself an EXTREME optimistic, as her brother so loudly put it and took pride on always thinking of the best case scenario first and foremost. However, as airheaded as she admittedly could sometimes be, this did not make her stupid. She knew when to give up on optimism and start worrying about the situation. And this was one of those times.

Without a second thought, she ran for the entrance, where she'd seen most of the men go. She had to make sure Tsuna-kun was alright. She just had to. As she emerged from the entrance, she belatedly realized that it was raining. It had probably just started, but that didn't matter right now. What did matter was finding Tsu- ah, there he was. It was a bit hard to miss the orange beacon of light in the gray darkness of the evening. He was alright, he wasn't hurt. Kyouko felt her shoulders sag in relief as she processed that thought.

Then, she made a quick sweep of the men in black suits – _Mafioso_, her mind supplied – and made her decision. It pained her to leave him under these circumstances, but, sadly, she'd seen Tsuna-kun face far worse opponents and come out without a scratch on his person. She knew he could handle this and she had faith in him. The only way she could help him right was getting out of the way. She wasn't as foolish as to think that she could aid him in battle an she didn't want to be a hindrance, so she dove back into the restaurant to wait it out.

Or at least she tried to.

Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed her hair and yanked her backwards. Something cold and narrow pressed itself against her back and she froze in panic.

This was _not _supposed to happen.

* * *

Hands clenched as if in prayer and a frown marring his face, Vongola Decimo (candidate, darn it!) stood suspended in the air, his mind whirring with information, trying to make sense of the current situation while letting his body react on its own and dispatch the threats one by one.

He had no idea where they had come from. He had no idea who they were. He had no idea why they had come- no, scratch that. It was pretty obvious. But _why_? Why were they attempting to kill the arguably most powerful man in the Mafia, or at least the Heir (possible!) to that position? He had had to deal with very few attempts on his life since Reborn had come and turned it upside down, simply because such an act was widely regarded as suicide.

But here was a famiglia that deemed itself powerful enough to challenge the Vongola. Or maybe they had thought that kidnapping their last heir, who they had heard was a small, wimpy kid with absolutely no connections in the Mafia. If the latter was the case, these guys were either pretty new in the business or had a horrible informant. If the former was the case... there would at least be some flame users in this group, so that was out.

He was brought out of his musings by an authoritative shout, "Vongola Decimo!" His enemies suddenly retreated, which probably meant that the man shouting was their leader. He turned his head to exactly who that was – and his breath caught in his throat. "We've got a hostage. The woman you fancy if I am not mistaken. Surrender now and we _might_ let her go." The man holding a gun to Kyouko's back sneered.

Three years ago, he might have complied. Three years ago he would've been devastated and frozen in shock and self loathing. But right now? Right now he was just angry. Outraged, somewhat fearful, yes.

But mostly angry.

Without an ounce of hesitation, he charged at them fully intending to save Kyouko. But he did not count on the reaction of an opponent unprepared at the sight of him going at speeds far beyond normality. It had, after all, been quite a long while since he had fought an opponent without an ounce of knowledge about flames. So he never expected the man to accidentally pull the trigger out of sheer fright.

_No._

As his eyes widened in horror, he could do nothing but watch her eyes widen in shock and her back arch in pain. He could do nothing but see her body falling as if in slow motion, a far away part of his mind absently calculating if he'd be able to catch her before she hit the floor. He could do nothing to save the life that was quickly fading from those beautiful, _beautiful _eyes or to stop the red_redcrimsonred_ stain blooming on the front and back of her summer dress.

He could do _nothing._ He was _helpless_ to watch.

When he finally reached her, an arm found its way around her shoulders to support her while his other hand grabbed the man's face, letting him feel the _burn_ of his flames before throwing him into a wall. It then reached into his pocket and pulled out a cellphone. His hand was trembling, but he managed to dial the right number, all the while looking anywhere but that horrible stain. After what felt like an eternity and a half, someone picked up.

"_Juudaime? Is something wrong?"_

He didn't waste a single breath "Get me Onii-san!"

"_Juu-"_

"Now!"

"_What's wrong?"_ His tone of voice turned strict and demanding, something he had scarcely used on his beloved Boss simply out of principle. It left no room for argument.

"It's... it's Kyouko, she... I can't..." Tears started prickling the corners of his eyes and his voice grew incredibly faint, "... help... she... she's..." he couldn't continue but he didn't need to either.

"_I'll get turf top. We'll be there as soon as we can. Don't worry Juudaime."_ And the line went dead.

Tsuna stared at his phone in trepidation. Dare he hope? Was Kyouko really not going to... to...

His train of thought was brought to a halt when he felt soft, trembling fingers on his cheek. His hand found hers and pressed it against his cheek as he looked down at the girl lying on his lap (and since when was he on his knees?). His breath hitched when he took in her unnaturally pale complexion and her irregular breathing. But her lips. Her lips, bloody and pale as they were, were stretched in a _smile_.

"Tsuna... kun." She said in a voice so faint he could barely hear her.

"No! Kyouko-chan, don't talk. Just- just hold on and wait. Onii-san will be here any moment and-" But she shook her head gently, almost imperceptibly, and his brain stopped working.

"I loved... the time I... could spend with... you and ev- everyone." Now he was shaking his head, not noticing the trail of hot tears on his face, but his eyes never left hers. "You... made me... very happy."

Tsuna gritted his teeth in frustration. No. This couldn't be happening. _No._ But she continued, even as every breath she took felt like liquid fire, she continued.

"I don't... blame you... I- I actually wan... wanted to thank you... for sharing so... so much with me. So don't... don't let me stop you... your life... live it with... without regrets." More tears poured out of his eyes like a river and he leaned forward, because he knew he could not miss a single word. Light was quickly leaving her eyes as she got two last words out.

"Goodbye... Tsu-kun..." With those words her eyes unfocused as she looked beyond him and the sky, to a place where he could not reach her.

Tsuna let his head fall in despair as the drops of rain pounded mercilessly on his back. "Kyouko-chan... Kyouko..."

And so, Sasagawa Kyouko died under the heavy rain with a smile on her face.

* * *

The men who had originally attacked the restaurant were frozen in place. Their leader was down for the count, which had never occurred to them when they were planning an attack on the Vongola Decimo as a show of power from their relatively new and admittedly weak famiglia. They had heard the Vongola was a big shot in the Mafia and their sole weakness was the heir, who lived in Japan and supposedly was not suited for the position of Boss at all.

Then, the boy had suddenly caught on fire, under the rain, and god knew how they were supposed to react to _that_. But they were nothing if not relentless, so they kept on attacking. And then their leader, their saviour of saviours, had found leverage against the young Boss who was surpassing their expectations in every way. For a moment, relief had washed over them.

And then the boy disappeared, only to appear right next to the leader right as a single gunshot resounded throughout the street. He'd grabbed him by the head with a flaming hand (in retrospect, this should not have been so shocking, seeing as the boy could _fly)_and thrown him into a wall.

That had never happened before.

Their current leader was the second-in-command of the whole famiglia. The man was strong and fearsome (of course they couldn't compare since they had barely ever seen other, more powerful famiglie in action). He was pretty much invincible. And he was currently lying unconscious in a whole in the wall he'd been thrown into, surrounded.

For the men, who had never really seen what people in their world were really capable of, this was the equivalent of the end of the world. Therefore, they were too shocked to react to the blatant opportunity given to them when the boy held the girl as she undoubtedly died in his arms.

However, they were shaken out of their stupor when they noticed the boy standing up.

* * *

This rain did not calm any hearts, nor did it wash away any sort of anxiety. No, this rain disguised. It disguised his face, it disguised the tears, it disguised the sorrow, and it made him feel as cold outside as he felt inside.

He didn't like this rain, but he didn't hate it either.

As he slowly turned around and deliberately walked over to the men standing a ways away from him, he didn't look up to take in their reactions, nor to measure which points in the body to attack. He kept his eyes shadowed by his bangs and his posture relaxed (sagged, slumped) as he ever so slowly approached his attackers. The change was gradual.

The first thing that stood out to them in the dark, rainy evening was the small flame on his forehead.

Three more steps. Now his hands – fists – were burning.

Five steps closer. Some eerie glow emanated from below those bangs of his.

Four steps. The flame on his forehead grew, became wilder.

Two steps.

Six steps.

Three steps.

A gunshot.

Time stopped. He did too. A faint line of red, blood traced his cheek. A stray shot out of nerves and tension.

He lifted his eyes – and the men froze. Those eyes. Those glowing, intense eyes. They were the eyes of a god of destruction on a warpath searching for those who had incurred his wrath.

And _finding_ them.

For a moment, nothing moved. Their hearts did not beat, the rain did not fall, the flames did not flicker.

And then, he _disappeared_.

The men had no time to even scream.

* * *

Hayato was panting. He'd had to find that stupid turf top for Juudaime since apparently something had happened to his woman, who also happened to be the idiot's younger sister. The problem was that the insufferable, loud imbecile could never find it in himself to get himself a freaking cellphone. Therefore, he'd been forced search through half the town until he found him jogging in the park.

Convincing him, at least, hadn't been so troublesome since all he had to do was mention his sister. After that he was completely willing to follow him to where he knew the Juudaime's date was supposed to take place at – which was at the other side of town.

At some point, they'd ran into the baseball freak and, after listening to what they knew from turf top, who was uncharacteristically serious, he decided to tag along just in case something happened.

By the time the neared the restaurant, Hayato was ready to pull his hair out in impatience. Juudaime, he'd sounded truly desperate and completely terrified on the phone, to the point where he'd had to use what his sister called his 'authoritative voice' to get anything out of him. Every, second he spent away from the Juudaime's side was another possible tragedy.

And he had a _very _bad feeling.

If it were not for the fact that they were still needed, he would have collapsed from relief when they finally reached their destination. That is, until he actually saw what was going on.

Countless bodies littered the street. Mafioso, judging by their attire and the guns in most of their hands. A knot formed in his stomach but he ignored it in favour of looking for his Boss. But when his gaze finally found him, it was definitely not what he'd expected to see.

Tsuna was holding a man by the throat. His other hand went _through_ the man's chest. The man was not breathing.

What.

The lifeless body fell from his grasp and Hayato finally noticed what he hadn't before. The blood. While being somewhat washed away by the rain, the blood was still there.

And it was _everywhere._ His hands. His clothes. His face. His hair. Everywhere.

_What._

No. This was impossible. There was no way- He couldn't have- He- He- No! Tsuna- Tsuna would never have done that. Never. He was too kind, too compassionate, too adamant on valuing life (_too naïve_, whispered his subconscious). So this couldn't be-

Tsuna turned his head to look at them and suddenly he could not think, could not even breathe.

The flames were gone now, as was the glow, leaving Tsuna as his core. And his eyes... they didn't look at them but through them. Those eyes were hollow, void, with only a flicker of emotion – grief? Despair? – and so completely and utterly broken it made himself feel heartbroken.

Something had happened. Something so horrible that Tsuna had forgone his own morals and beliefs, everything he stood for. And it had left him broken, possibly beyond repair.

Minutes passed as Tsuna just stared at them while they stared at everything, trying to process what had just happened. Of course, after a while, the silence was broken.

"Sawada." said boy turned to look at his Sun Guardian, who levelled him with a serious if somewhat fearful gaze. But it wasn't fear _of_ him. It was fear for- "What happened to Kyouko?"

He just stood there, frozen. His eyes widened as tears gathered in the corners and his face contorted as if in pain. He lowered his gaze so he didn't have to look the other in the eye, but his trembling frame gave everything away.

And Ryohei recognized the meaning behind his actions perfectly. But he wasn't one for denial, nor was he one to put the blame on others. So, instead of all that, he simply did what he always did when he needed to alleviate his feelings. He punched something, namely the street beneath him. And he moved. He ran and ran and kept running because if he didn't completely exhaust himself _right now_, he would break down into a million pieces and that's not how older brother's were supposed to act. And while he- while he did not have a little sis- sister any- anymo- anymore, he still had a little brother. And he'd be damned if he couldn't take care of him because he was too busy moping around.

So he ran. And with his sweat and the rain, nobody saw the tears.

* * *

Tsuna watched his 'big brother' go with an even heavier heart. He'd failed him. He'd failed Onii-san and Haru and Bianchi and Lambo and I-pin and Hana and Oh God He'd _**Failed**_.

And he'd failed Kyouko-chan.

A voice brought him back to reality. "Tsuna..." He turned his head, this time to his Rain. "What... what happened here?"

What? What did he mean? It was so damn obvious! Kyouko-chan was de- dead and- and-

He looked around.

Bodies. There were bodies everywhere. And blood. So much blood, diluted by the rain. Like that stain on her dress.

How... ?

And the memories of minutes ago came rushing back.

He stared at his hand. It was covered in blood. He looked at his clothes. Splattered in the same substance. He stumbled back, disbelieving, eyes widened in horrified realization.

What had he done?

_What had he done?!_

He'd taken lives. Multiple lives. He hadn't been thinking. He'd been so empty and so cold because-

Kyouko.

_Kyouko._

He'd killed. She was dead. He'd taken lives. Her life had been taken. He had mindlessly killed. He had not protected her.

Tsuna fell to his knees and looked up at the almost invisible clouds hiding the night sky, trying to flood the world. The moon could not be seen and it's absence made the night even darker. Somehow, this fact filled him with more despair.

And he cried out to the heavens themselves as if his heart was being torn out of him.

Because it had.

That night was a night grief, loss and despair. A night that was locked away in the deepest confines of the hearts of those present.

Because neither the Rain nor the Storm nor the Cloud that had been watching could console their Sky.

* * *

Author's Note:

So, an attempt at a darker take on the whole. I'm still sad that I had to kill off Kyouko. Also, i have no Idea where this is going. Tee hee~


	2. The Night Sky

A gunshot pierced the air.

"Kyouko!" Tsuna tried reaching towards the falling girl, but no matter how much he ran, the distance never got smaller.

His vision changed. He was facing the men who had killed her. Who had killed his light in the darkness. They deserved to die. They deserved to-

And suddenly the men weren't standing anymore. They were lying on the floor.

Wounded. Dismembered.

_Dead._

And his figure was soaked in red.

"It's all your fault." A familiar voice said, accusing, broken, hateful. "All of it." Tsuna found his tongue frozen in place as he turned his head around to look at the source of he voice. There, lying on the ground, limbs bent at impossible angles and staring right at him with empty, glassy eyes, was Kyouko.

"You killed them. They could have had friends, families, a future."

Tsuna's heart grew heavy.

"And you took all that away."

His legs gave out from underneath him.

"You killed them. And you didn't even save me."

The blood on the ground started creeping towards him, trying to engulf him.

"You killed _me_."

The blood reached his shoulders, his neck, his mouth, his nose and he couldn't_ breath._

"You're a murderer, Tsuna-kun."

His world went black and the last thing he remembered was drowning in a sea of blood.

* * *

He awoke with a start, panting and dripping with sweat. His heart was beating erratically as he tried to orientate himself. Where was he? He looked around at the room, _his_ room. He shoulders sagged in relief at this realization but it did nothing to calm him.

One shaky hand touched his face, pulling back so he could see it. It was wet. For a moment, the tears weren't clear but crimson coloured and they were everywhere and they soaked into his skin and-

Choking on air, Tsuna blinked reflexively. The red was gone. There was nothing on his hand but clear, salty tears. Then the nausea hit. He quickly grabbed the bucket standing beside his bed and emptied his stomach, which had already been empty to begin with. It was an unpleasant feeling at best, even with the glass of water taken afterwards to cleanse his mouth.

He released a shuddering breath and leaned back on the wall. It had been three days since _That Night_, and still, the nightmares haunted him, blaming him, twisting him, breaking him. He'd considered just staying awake, but that had proved impossible for him,whose body was used to regular sleep.

In the end, he just had to bear with it and hope that they would go away soon.

A choked sob escaped him. He tried to suppress it, somewhat unsuccessfully.

"It's been three days." He didn't even have the energy to be startled by his tutor's sudden appearance, looking at him from hollow, bloodshot eyes. "Why are you still here?"

Tsuna didn't deign that with a response, choosing instead to let his gaze wander. Reborn let out a frustrated goal. Was this really his student? The boy who had faced the Earth Flames, the Vindice and the Mare Sky Guardian and prevailed every single time? This broken, fragile child? He snorted unamusedly. Well, if he wouldn't get past this on his own, Reborn would help him along.

"Snap out of it, Dame-Tsuna!" _That_ got his attention. "How long do you plan to stay here? How long are you planning on moping around in your room and feeling sorry for yourself while your Famiglia needs you? While your Guardians need you?" And by Guardians, they both knew, he meant the Sun specifically.

Something flickered in Tsuna's eyes. It was enough to err him on. "You have a responsibility, Tsuna. Both as their Boss and as their Sky. You can't simply drop everything on a whim."

Something vaguely resembling a frown appeared on the boy's forehead and he responded mostly out of habit. "I'm not the Bo-"

"_Yes, you are!_" Reborn bit out rather harshly. The stress was getting to him and he was losing his cool. Something akin to guilt (but not quite) was eating at him and he'd been cursing Nono from dawn to dusk ever seen he'd been summoned back to Italy for the yearly report and then come back, only to find out that everything had gone to hell and his student was in a deep state of depression.

"Whether you like it or not, _you_ are the last possible heir, _you_ have been trained for the position for the last three years, you _don't _have any means of escape since the whole thing is already public, including the Inheritance Ceremony fiasco. Hell, _your Guardians_ have long since agreed." His tone then turned darker, deadlier, and the flicker in Tsuna's eyes became stronger. "You don't have an option , Tsuna. Once you're involved in the Mafia, you can't escape."

"But... I... those men... Kyouko-chan..." the last part was spoken in naught but a pained whisper.

"People die. This is the Mafia. Death is as rare as bread. There isn't much you can do about it." If he was already revealing the true colours of their world to the boy, might as well go all the way. After all, these were the basics. Without them, his life expectancy would be ridiculously low.

"But I... what I did... I don't... I..." he sobbed, but managed to hold on to any last scraps of composure left in him "I killed them, Reborn. Every one of them. Because... because they killed Kyouko-chan."

Reborn sighed. It was time for the boy to get this straight, or he would be crippled in the future. "Death and killing, they both come with the job. If you don't get this in your head, you will never be able to lead the Vongola, let alone practically the entire Italian Mafia as _Capo di tutti Capi._

"You once said you would change the Mafia for the better, but you can't do that with pretty words and empty promises. Your enemies will not hesitate to kill you, nor will they hesitate to harm or mercilessly kill your family, friends or anyone you come in contact with. So you can't either. When you enter the underworld, you will have to steel your heart. If you want to protect the ones you love, you will have to sacrifice a part of yourself." He paused for a moment, the continued. "When the time comes that you have to choose between an ally and an enemy life, your choice has to be clear."

Silence hung in the air as Tsuna processed his tutor's words through the slowly dissipating haze and turmoil in his mind. And came to a conclusion.

* * *

Sawada Tsunayoshi, by nature, was not whiny, nor did he complain much.

His mother could attest to that. His teachers could too. Heck, even his former bullies could. Anyone who spent even slightly more time with him (or even just watched him more) than the average stranger was bound to notice his utter refusal of voicing any and all negative thoughts about _anything whatsoever_.

So, of course, it came as no surprise when the spies the Vongola had stationed in Namimori to watch over their last heir had noticed this little fact too. A little fact which was later written in their reports. The reports which would, years later, land into the hands of none other than the best hitman in the world.

Having this title, of course, meant that he knew how to do his job. He'd long ago learned that studying his target (his personality, habits, likes, dislikes, intelligence levels, skills, etc.) was the first and biggest step towards a successful hit. Now, the Vongola heir wasn't a target per se, but if he was going to spend years of his life shaping him into an outstanding Boss, he might as well get to know said trainee. After all, Reborn hated surprises. Therefore, he memorized the reports.

When the fated day finally came for Reborn to introduce himself (and the boy's fate) to the Sawadas, Tsunayoshi (or Dame-Tsuna, since he found sadistic pleasure in embarrassing his students for the headache they would cause him) had been more than a little disgruntled. What Reborn didn't know however, due to the fact that, contrary to popular belief, he could not, in fact, read minds, was that, inside, he had been a raging storm of anger, panic, confusion and worry, all masked under a façade of incompetent flailing and useless rejection.

Tsuna wasn't dumb. He knew that everything said by the sanity-defying infant had been the truth. He could _feel _it. But even so, he couldn't allow it. Sure, he was scared out of his wits (it was the _Mafia_, for Kami's sake!), but his mother would be involved and he couldn't allow that.

So he vehemently rejected the idea. He dragged his feet in training, complained at every given opportunity, hoping to outwhine his tutor's patience, and fled any situation that would give the not-baby a glimpse of the person he could actually be, all in the hopes that he would snap, think him a hopeless case (it helped that he was neither athletically nor academically inclined) and leave to look for some long lost , distantly related heir. Too bad he himself already fit into that category. When it became clear, though, that Reborn would not be leaving any time soon, he'd started giving in, resigning himself to the idea.

That was, until he started involving other people.

Gokudera Hayato had not been that big of a deal. The boy was already involved in the Mafia and wouldn't be getting out. The deal was already sealed. However, when Yamamoto Takeshi, an innocent, cheerful, _normal_ baseball player was pulled into the whole mess, Tsuna's whiny persona had returned with a vengeance.

Needless to say, this had Reborn very frustrated. The reports hadn't mentioned this type of behaviour at all. In fact, they had stated the complete opposite. So why oh why was his student acting like this?

Needing an outlet for his frustration, he'd upped Tsuna's training manifold and in many painful ways. Far more than his other student. A fact Tsuna had found out about months later when sharing torture anecdotes with Dino.

But still, Tsuna wouldn't give in, still hoping to drive his tutor mad even after a whole year. Even after he'd unconsciously started relaxing into the idea once again but still refused to acknowledge it, smothering the thought in denial.

Even with the threat of Mukuro hanging over their heads he had not relented until the very end, and even then, only for a short while. In fact, seeing his friends hurt had only strengthened his notion.

And then Xanxus had come, and he'd had no choice but to show his true resolve, even while he was still hoping to evade this whole Ring mess without endangering his precious friends.

After that, most of his whines and complaints had been half-hearted at best, because deep down, he knew there was no such thing as escape anymore. Even while his heart still desperately hoped that the darkness would only suck him in, his mind knew he would be dragging everyone with him, whether they liked it or not. Still, it was a fact he'd never accepted.

Not until reality had slapped him in the face. Hard.

He couldn't protect anyone like this, with one foot in and one foot out. It just wasn't going to work. That had become painfully evident three days ago. If he wanted to protect everyone, he'd have to choose a side and 'out' was already a far away dream. So 'in' it was. And he'd take anyone willing to follow him into darkness with him. Because he couldn't push them away. Not now, or it would _destroy_ him.

There was no use in denying it anymore. That would only lead to pain and suffering for him and those around him. No, it was time to let go of the mask once and for all and accept the fate he'd been dreading, welcome it even. After all, he'd promised Primo he'd destroy the Vongola. He was still planning on rebuilding it from scratch and returning it to it's former purpose.

He would make sure that those precious to him were safe, even if he had to tread a path of shadows to do it.

As Tsuna looked out the window, some time after Reborn left the room, his eyes were no longer deadened and hollow. They were blazing with grim determination.

He was Sawada Tsunayoshi, descendant of Primo, and the Sky Guardian of the clam, Vongola Decimo.

* * *

It had taken him another day to finish gathering his wits and get himself under control. Reborn was right. His family needed him right now, he couldn't afford to waver. Even so, the next few days were spent preparing, both mentally and emotionally, to finish what he started and to finally say goodbye.

He'd visited the Sasagawas out of concern for Ryohei and to apologize to the parents, deeply and from the bottom of his heart, for involving Kyouko in a dangerous situation and not protecting her until the very end. It had been painful, extremely so, but it had to be done, if only to ease the heavy sense of guilt in his heart.

But he had been taken completely by surprise when Ryohei, not as blindingly bright as before but still _Ryohei_, had declared him his little brother and the two adults had forgiven him with watery, understanding smiles. Tsuna, while deeply struck, couldn't imagine the pain this family was going through after losing a daughter and sister, and yet they had forgiven him.

Not only that, they had given him the right to join the family-only funeral tradition of the Sasagawas: each family member, on the day of the funeral, would leave a flower between the hands of the diseased, forming a bouquet as a goodbye present before the lid of the coffin was closed. A small, detached part of him found it poetic. The rest of him was overwhelmed. These people wanted to include him into such an intimate gesture. They were calling him family and welcoming him with open arms.

He felt privileged, special, and so incredibly relieved that he'd left the house in a hurry after profoundly thanking them and almost hadn't made it to his own home in time. The moment the door closed, the dam broke and salty tears slid down his cheeks, of mixed joy and grief.

* * *

Haru felt numb.

She'd been like this for days on end and couldn't possibly remember why. Until an invitation to Sasagawa Kyouko's funeral came in the mail one morning and all the memories she'd suppressed came back crashing down on her (that she was dead her beast friend was dead _dead __**dead) **_and she couldn't take them.

Still even if she couldn't suppress them anymore (they were burned into her mind by now), she still numbed herself. Because the pain was too much.

She was alone again.

The friendless freak.

Alone.

So she spent her days numb. Not thinking, not feeling, just following through with her routine as a week passed and the funeral came around.

Her parents didn't come with her. Of course they didn't. They hadn't even noticed that their daughter was acting oddly. Besides, they were too busy for something as frivolous as the funeral of their child's only friend. Haru was sure that she was supposed to feel something at this point. Disappointment, maybe betrayal or anger, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Throughout the funeral, her face remained blank. Even after she caught sight of Tsuna-san, the butterflies in her stomach that usually accompanied this event oddly absent, as he approached the coffin and placed a delicate pink rose among a few other white flowers of different kinds over Kyouko, she did not change.

When the proceedings were over with and the coffin buried, she prepared to leave, only to stumble slightly when someone lightly bumped into her.

"Sorry." said a distinctly familiar voice. But when she lifted her eyes to look into the just as familiar green eyes, it was not the usual annoyance that she found there but some kind of resignation and grim acceptance.

The silver haired teen bent down to pick up the the handbag that she had let fall and handed it to her. She nodded in a grateful gesture, her face still blank, and walked out of the cemetery and towards her house.

Standing before the locked front door, she opened her bag, intent on finding her keys, and stood stock still.

There, inside the bag, were two envelopes that hadn't been there a few hours ago. Slowly, she took them out to examine them – and her breath caught in her throat. The symbol on the first one, all gold and intricate, was one she would never be able to forget: a bullet with two muskets on either side and a winged clam. The same symbol that decorated Tsuna-san's ring.

The crest of the Vongola.

Wanting to stall, she took the the key from her handbag and opened the door in a hurry, immediately closing it after her and bolting up the stairs to her room.

When she deemed it safe enough, she decided to look at the second envelope. It was plain and white, a bit smaller than the first one. On the back stood a simple: _To: Miura Haru_

She opened that one first and began to read.

_Dear Haru,_

_I'm truly sorry for what happened. It was entirely my fault and there's nothing I could ever do to lift that guilt. But it has taught me a lesson._

_I know this is bit sudden, but I have decided to never let anything like that happen ever again. The other letter that came with this one is an invitation into my famiglia. If you accept, you will be part of the Vongola and under our protection._

_However, it also comes with some responsibilities and the Mafia itself is not a forgiving place, so I would completely understand if you refused. You could simply cut all ties with me and change your last name, maybe move out of the country to be sure. We'll take care of everything if it comes to that, so you don't need to worry._

_Either way, I won't let any of my precious people come to harm. That includes you._

_Again, I know this must be sudden and you're probably still coping with the whole situation as we all are and I'm sorry, but it would be best for both my nerves and your safety if you replied as soon as possible._

_Please think about it,_

_Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola Decimo_

_P.S.: Please burn this letter after you have read it. Thank you._

Haru stared for a while and let her gaze drift to the first envelope.

An invitation?

Into the _Vongola_?

Did... did Tsuna-san really care that much about her? He had called her one of his precious people.

So she wasn't alone?

And she could leave?

With him?

And with all the other wonderful, colourful people around him?

Haru felt tears gathering in her eyes as the numbness receded. But what crashed trough her wasn't only the heartbreaking pain she'd feared. No, there was more that kept it at bay. So much more.

She was _wanted._

And she could _leave._

There would be no sleep for Miura Haru tonight. Her thoughts had claimed her for the next few hours.

* * *

In the grey not-dark of dusk, Ryohei made his way back to the cemetery. Tsuna still hadn't left the grave's side.

His eyebrows creased with worry and left-over grief as he called out to the brunet in an uncharacteristically faint voice. "Sawada-"

"Call me Tsuna."

"Huh?"

The boy looked up from the gravestone to pierce him with his warm, chocolate gaze. "You said I'm your otouto now, right? Then... please call me Tsuna."

Ryohei was speechless for a moment, before a small spot of warmth appeared in his chest and he gave a slight smile. "Ok, Tsuna."

The other smiled back before looking back to the gravestone. "Say, onii-san..."

Ryohei looked at him, urging him to continue.

Tsuna's gaze shifted to the sky above, seemingly trying to decide what to say, and his voice was a whisper, yet it was still firm. "...I talked to Reborn. He told me where 'they' are."

Ryohei sucked in a sharp breath. He didn't need to ask who 'they' were. Them. The men who had killed his precious sister. His attention was now completely on Tsuna, who looked back at him, this time with intense, determined – dangerous – orange eyes. "Do you want to avenge her? Kyouko-chan?"

And in that moment, the older teen saw it. This boy in front of him was not the same bright Sky as before. He was still a Sky, still harmonious and accepting and all-encompassing, yet he was different... darker, in a sense. This Sky was a night sky. Not a black, bottomless night. No, it had a moon (_which was gone now_, whispered his mind) and countless bright stars to support it, keep it from drowning the world in darkness.

And the offer he'd just been given was a thing of the night. Revenge for the beautiful, shining moon that had been the sky's light in times of darkness.

No, the sun had no business in things of the night.

Shaking his head, he declined the offer and Tsuna's eyes looked at him with understanding. He nodded once and walked to the entrance of the cemetery, leaving his Sun to ponder by his sister's grave.

* * *

AN:

hmm, it came out less angsty than I thought it would be. yay! and yes, I know I'm overusing the sky metaphor but it sort of fits. kyouko is his light in the darkness and her brother is the sun so why not make her the moon? and the stars pretty much means everyone who cares for tsuna. and no, when i say night i don't mean the Night Flames.

...or do I?

Mwahahahaha.

ahem, I hope you enjoyed the chappie.


	3. A Trip to Italy

In the warm, incomplete darkness, the door creaked open. A silhouette stepped into the room and quietly closed the door behind him. As silently as possible, he took one step. Two steps. Three ste-

The lights came on.

"Did you off them all?" asked a dark, squeaky voice. The former silhouette, now revealed as Sawada Tsunayoshi, turned his head to look at the other with that unnervingly emotionless look he'd been wearing often lately and shook his head.

"No."

Reborn frowned slightly, "Did you kill _anyone_?"

"I didn't."

What? Wasn't this supposed to be his vendetta? The boy had been so anguished, so determined, so _angry_. So why had he done nothing? His frustration became apparent in the darkening of his voice. "_Dame-Tsuna-_"

"But I left them wishing I had."

And Reborn pulled up short. There was no satisfaction, no accomplishment, no sated note in his voice. Tsuna had come for revenge, yet he had left without it – well, most of it. But... was that a speck of bitterness he heard in his voice? Was that glint in his eyes one of grim, suppressed vindictiveness? And was that a hint of _bloodlust _that permeated the air around him?

Perhaps his student had picked up a few of his sadistic tendencies along the way. They had been living under the same miraculously non-collapsible roof for three years now, and Reborn had not held back. It was a possibility that he held nothing but pride for.

Still, the question remained: why had he changed his mind? He had half a mind to voice it when he finally noticed the dark bags under his eyes. Shaking his head, he sent the boy off to the bedroom, but not before warning him of their plans for the next day.

"We're going to Vongola Headquarters tomorrow to talk to Nono. I've already called him. So try to wake up early, or I'll wake you up" _Vongola style_ went unsaid, yet completely understood. His only reply was a visible shiver and a closed door.

The next morning found the newspaper on the breakfast table with the head title **'Anonymous tip leads Police to Formica Famiglia – All members apprehended after urgent medical treatment'** being ignored while shrill screams and sounds vaguely resembling an electrical current filled the expensive suite in the middle of Florence.

* * *

Timoteo was a patient man.

He had been patient when Coyote Nougat had adamantly refused the spot of his Storm Guardian.

He had been patient when one of his men was about to betray him to protect his family.

He had been patient where the antics of the newly recruited Young Lion of the Vongola would have driven lesser men mad.

He had been patient when Xanxus had drowned in denial and closed himself off to the truth.

He had been patient when his chosen heir had refused the position at any chance he got.

And, like every other time, he had gotten what he wanted. With patience and perseverance. It truly felt wonderful when everything went as planned. Of course, the last case had had a few hiccups along the way, but in the end, his patience had been rewarded.

Just as always.

Currently, he couldn't keep the smile on his face from forming, as he was waiting for the reward of that very last case. He glanced at his watch. They should be arriving in-

"Hello, Nono."

Hmm, they were a tad earlier than expected. He'd thought a boy Tsuna's age wouldn't want to get up so early. Not that he was complaining, mind you.

"Ah, hello you two. Please sit down. It's nice to see you again. Especially you, Tunayoshi. It has been a long time."

He received a smile, "It has. It's nice to see you too, grandpa – although I should be calling you Nono now, shouldn't I?" he added after seeing his tutor's pointed glare.

"Oh, nonsense. Call me what you will. Besides, you'll be sitting behind this desk yourself very soon, so there's really no need for such formalities between us." He summoned up the most grandfatherly smile he could manage to add emphasis. However, its counterpart on the boy's face suddenly looked the tiniest bit strained before smoothing out as if nothing had happened. A fact Timoteo chose to ignore in favour of finally having this conversation.

"I-if you insist, then I guess it's ok."

His eyes softened. Tsunayoshi really hadn't changed much in the past year. He was still a stuttering mess one moment, and the next he'd be powerful, infallible Vongola Decimo. The transformation was bewildering every single time he saw it, without exceptions. It seemed, though, that it wasn't taking place now, since he was still a bundle of nerves, just like before. However...

However, there was something; something about him that was different in so many senses of the word, even though nothing looked out of place. It was a shadow, a flash of darkness hidden beneath the surface. Something that made his hairs stand on end and, at the same time, made his heart ache with foreign grief.

He wanted to know, _really_ wanted to know what had happened. What had given birth to that shadow. But it could jeopardize his already tentative deal with his heir and this wasn't the time anyway. Maybe one day, when his successor could really trust him. Until then, sating his curiosity would have to wait.

As the last few details of the deal were hammered down, Tsunayoshi finally brought up the subject he'd been anticipating.

"But what do we do about the Inheritance Ceremony? I mean I've already gone through it, but that one was fake _and_ it was interrupted anyway. Besides, you don't have the Sin. Or the Punishment, for that matter."

"I've already thought of a solution for that. You don't have to worry."

The brunet looked at him expectantly. He just smiled back mysteriously. The boy sighed in resignation, seemingly used to having important information kept from him until the crucial moment. With Reborn as a tutor, he probably was.

At that moment, someone knocked on his office door and his secretary, a woman who would be retiring very soon, poked her head in, "Sir, you have a meeting with the Giegue representative in fifteen minutes. It'll take some time to get to the designated meeting place." _So please wrap this up now_, were her loudly silent words.

"It seems our conversation must draw to an end now, Tsunayoshi. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

He hesitated for a second, then shook his head. "No, that was all. T-thank you for having us."

"Don't thank me. It was nothing." he replied as he watched them walk for the door, until something caught his eye. "I hadn't noticed before, Tsunayoshi. Is that necklace new?"

For a split second, the brunet tensed, before replying in a slightly raw voice. "Yes. It's a... memento." And with that, he walked briskly towards the door and left.

Timoteo, however, had decades of experience with handling politics and Mafia Bosses. He knew how to read between the lines. And his successor, in all his endearing amateurishness, did not know how to hide the true meaning of his words yet.

That silver chain, which had once held the Sky Half Ring, now had a small, narrow glass container dangling from it, which was filled with some rolled-up, tattered, light blue fabric with tiny, almost invisible red-brown stains. Completely irrelevant to anyone except the boy whose contradicting grief and determination were clearly visible whenever he grabbed it.

It was indeed a memento, but not just of a person.

_It was a memento mori._

* * *

"_Tsu-kun, you'll be gone for a few days, right?" said the deceptively young looking woman that he called his mother._

"_M-hm."_

_She flashed him that brilliant smile that reminded him so much of- "Could you do me a favour then, Tsu-kun?"_

_His former train of thought derailed, he gazed at her curiously, wordlessly urging her on. Her smile widened a fraction and she handed him an envelope, small, white and simple, "Could you give this to your father while you're wherever you're going? I haven't been able to contact him lately, so I thought a letter would do."_

_He was already in mid-nodding when his mind finally caught up with the implications of her words. He froze and his eyes widened._

_Her smile didn't waver at all, not for a single moment, but something else made itself known. A shade of... mischievousness? She thanked him energetically and he could only stutter out incomplete thoughts._

"_How- Wha-"_

_She turned back to him just as she was about to leave the room and mouthed two words._

_Those two words snapped him out of his daze and he suddenly saw his mother in a completely new light. Making a split second decision that he was sure he wouldn't regret, he called out to her before she left. "Mom! I-I need... When I come back... we need to talk. It's important."_

_She looked at him for a moment, as if assessing him, and then nodded in a serious manner that was somehow not at all diminished by the almost sparkly smile still on her lips. Then, turning around, she left he son alone in his room once again while he wondered if this was how his guardians felt whenever he actually aimed his smiles to disarm._

_Tsuna looked down at his hand, or more precisely, the small envelope it held, and was reminded of those two words spoken a mere minute before that had completely changed his perspective of his mother in less than a second._

"Mother's Intuition."

_He sighed._

* * *

Life was...

Life was...

It was...

Oh, to hell with it. For Lal Mirch, life was many things, but right now, it was completely, utterly and plainly _boring._

The CEDEF may have been part of the Mafia, but it wasn't outright involved in anything. They were a sort of neutral party in Vongola's strange times of peace, the blockade that kept them from going nuts on the underworld (not that they weren't pretty close to it already). So, when there was no war or invasion or double crossing or internal conflict or challenge going on, they didn't really have much to do.

Scratch that. They had _absolutely nothing_ to do.

Nothing except actually working in the supposed company that was their cover. What that company was even all about, she had no idea nor interest in. She was a fighter, a soldier, and that was the end of it. No one, not even that idiot Iemitsu, was going to stick her to a chair for an office job. She was not having it. Period.

So it came as no surprise when news of a small, strange teenager in their lobby spread like wildfire throughout the whole building, only much faster. As much as the CEDEF's cover was supposed to be some kind of business, the didn't get any clients. Not really.

And because she was utterly bored and didn't have anything better to do, she went downstairs to investigate what the whole uproar was about. It couldn't be as interesting as it was portrayed, but it would have to do.

The moment the elevator doors opened to let her out, Lal learned how easy it was to eat her own words.

"My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi. I'm looking for Sawada Iemitsu. I need to give him something." said the familiar brunet standing in front of the receptionist, who was trying very hard not to gape. She was not succeeding in her attempts.

Lal shook herself out of her stupor – _what the hell was he doing here_ – and walked up to him, "Tsuna."

At the familiar voice, said boy turned to look at her and his face broke into an adorab- _insufferable_ grin. "Lal! I-it's been a while. How are you doing?"

She stared at him, ignoring both the greeting and the question, and then sighed heavily. "What are you doing here, Tsuna?"

His grin turned into a gentle frown, which vanished as quickly as it had appeared, a resigned expression in its place. "My mom asked me to give this to dad, since he isn't picking up her calls. Not that it's anything new." The last part was muttered under his breath, but she got it all the same. She looked at the envelope he was holding, then back to his face.

"He isn't here right now. But I can hold on to it until he comes back." she told him plainly.

The somewhat bitter expression on his face clearly stated that he hadn't expected any less. "Thanks Lal. I'll be going then. Don't want to take too much of your time." he said after handing her the letter.

She received it, all the way staring at him intensely, her brows creased in concentration as if looking for something. Tsuna fidgeted a bit before asking, "Um, i-is something w-wrong?"

He was met with silence until she seemingly found what she had been looking for, apparently not at all pleased by it if the thinly veiled frustration and disapproval on her face was anything to go by.

"What happened?"

"H-huh?"

"There's something about you. Something different. What happened?" she repeated.

At once, his demeanour made a U-turn. Gone was the the sweet, clumsy child. In his place stood a jaded teenager, sad for the world and angry at himself, radiating a sense of power and superiority she had only caught glimpses of before – there was also a hint of guilt and blood in the air around him. And it took her breath away.

"So my father hasn't told you yet? Or perhaps he doesn't even know. It wouldn't be the first time. For all the spies he's stationed there, he knows absolutely nothing." he said with a bitter, deprecating smile. If at himself, at his father or the world, she could not discern.

He then turned to leave, but not before saying, "I can't be sure, but I think that letter has it covered. So ask him when he comes back." He gripped the pendant that hung from his neck. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going there now. I can't." were his last words, whispered in a hoarse voice, before he left the building.

Perhaps life was getting less boring after all, Lal contemplated in her stunned silence.

* * *

It came out of nowhere.

One moment, he was looking out the classroom window, wondering where Tsuna had disappeared off to for the last four days and paying no attention to class whatsoever. The next, he felt _it_.

It was a strange feeling, like something pulling at his heart or a speck of light leading him somewhere. He looked down at his necklace, where it seemed to originate from, and the feeling intensified, turned more urgent as he watched a soft blue glow emanating from his pendant.

Quickly, urgently, he gazed around until he met a certain pair of eyes, and noticed that his belt was also giving off a soft glow, this time red.

That confirmed his suspicions. It had never happened before, because there had never been a need for it. But somehow, for some unexplainable reason, he _knew_ what was happening.

The Vongola Guardians were being summoned.

He watched as Gokudera hurriedly stood up and rushed out of the classroom, not even bothering to give their sensei some kind of excuse. Takeshi himself did almost the same, though he was considerate enough to at least spout some ridiculous excuse along the lines of stopping the other from blowing up the bathroom.

The teacher just sighed resignedly. They'll be gone soon, he told himself. Only a few months until graduation.

Now, if only time would fly faster.

* * *

Unexpectedly, they didn't have to walk (read: run) for too long until they reached their unknown destination.

There, leaning against the old railings of the roof, head tilted upwards to look at the sky, was Tsuna, with Reborn standing off to the side.

Hibari was already there, seemingly irritated for the interruption of his patrolling, but still there. Chrome appeared near Tsuna in that misty way of hers with her whole entourage (Mukuro, Ken, Chikusa, MM and even Fran), who apparently had insisted on coming along. Lambo, who had been enrolled in Namimori Elementary earlier that year on Mamma's insistence, came in gasping for breath since he had run all the way to Tsuna-nii's school (not that both schools were very far apart). The last one to arrive was Ryohei, staring at their Sky all the way with a quiet intensity that seemed somehow even louder than his usual behaviour – although said behaviour had stopped being usual lately, and for a good reason.

Once they were all there, a tense silence enveloped them. Every single one of the Guardians stared at the Sky's back expectantly, waiting, anticipating, hoping. The Mist group, except for Mukuro, started wondering if it had really been a good idea to come here. They felt like they were intruding in something intimate, something that shouldn't be looked upon by outsiders. But before they could attempt to leave, Tsuna turned around.

"I'm sorry that I called you all here all of sudden."

"That's not a problem, Juudaime. You can do so whenever you want to!" countered Gokudera without missing a beat, which earned him a grateful smile in return.

"Tsuna... did you...?" his attention was diverted to his Sun, who seemed torn between worry and relief. He shook his head.

"No, I decided against it in the end. Killing is a last resort, no exceptions. But you won't be hearing from the Formica Famiglia any time soon. Or ever."

At his words, a chill ran down the spines of most present. They had all, in one way or another, found about the _incident _of two weeks ago. Both about Kyouko and... the Mafiosi that had started it all. Both their fates were well known among this group.

Takeshi hesitated for a moment before braving the question that had been plaguing him for a while now, "Tsuna... that time... what... why...?" or attempting to, at least.

Tsuna's gaze shifted to his Rain before he looked down."I... I was sad. I was angry. I hated those men for what they did to-to Kyouko-chan. I couldn't think straight and let my emotions overcome me." then he looked back up, and his eyes were glowing orange with an indescribable intensity. "But that's no excuse. I shouldn't have done that. Right now, I can't do anything about it but regret it from the deepest confines of my soul. So, as long as it isn't completely, utterly necessary, as long as it's not your life against theirs, taking lives is not among my options. But should it come to that, I will protect you and the rest of my precious people to the best of my ability."

A moment passed in awe-filled silence as his Guardians listened, watched him, and were left utterly breathless by the sheer resolve in his eyes.

He took a deep breath, let it out slowly and continued, "That's why... that's why I've accepted the position. I will take over the Vongola as Decimo. Everything is already prepared. So I ask you," and he looked at each of them, to emphasize his next words, "Will you come with me?"

One heartbeat.

Two heartbeats.

Three heartbeats.

A sliver of doubt-

"Of course, Juudaime!"

"Maa, what made you think otherwise, Tsuna?"

"Let's have an extreme match when everything's done, Sawa- erm, Tsuna!"

"Yes, Boss!"

"Does the Vongola have grape candy too? If not, we have to take a whole package there! You hear that, Tsuna-nii?"

"Hn." but that wasn't the Cloud's only reply. He stood up and walked over to the now smiling Sky, "But you're making a branch in Namimori." he said, startling the brunet.

Before he could shriek in a girly (hey!) manner, an idea suddenly overcame said instinct and he nodded. "That's actually not a bad idea. I can present it as a simple expansion, like the base in Spain." the idea of having a Mafia base in Namimori didn't really sit well with him, but Hibari-san would demand to take over and the Disciplinary Committee would most probably follow. With his Cloud's borderline obsession with 'preserving the peace in Namimori', that particular branch would likely resemble a vigilante group more than the Mafia, which was what he was aiming for with the entire organization anyway. "But you'll have to come to Italy for a while until it's all settled, Hibari-san."

The older teen (almost man) just looked at him and then turned around. "That's acceptable. I'll be taking Kusakabe with me." and he left, probably not to the the high school Tsuna was pretty sure he was supposed to be attending.

After a moment, Chrome decided to approach him, "A-ano, Boss. About M-mukuro-sama and the others-"

"They can come if they want to." Tsuna answered with a kind smile. "I'm sure grandpa won't mind and my door is always open."

She bowed, almost hiding the dazzling beaming expression on her face, but not quite. "Arigatou, Boss."

"Kufufu, let's see what I can make of this, Tsunayoshi-kun." he inwardly winced at his sort-of-other-Mist-Guardian's scheming tone.

"Tsuna," and hadn't Reborn been calling him Dame-Tsuna a lot less lately? "come. We need to keep up your Italian lessons." This time, the wince actually appeared on his face, but he still left the roof with his chest feeling suspiciously light.

It had been the right decision, and right now, no one could convince him otherwise.

* * *

AN:

welcome to another chappie of Redemption. hmm, it seems more and more that I'll actually keep writing this thing. it keeps me entertained. although more than half of the chapter sneaked its way in _after_ I started writing.

so, a few clarifications: I decided against having tsuna kill them in the end for reasons listed above. Yes, Chrome is now the official Mist Guardian, not Mukuro. I mean, c'mon, she's far more trustworthy and wherever she goes, mukuro follows anyway so it's not that much of a loss. as for Lambo, he should be around eight right now, so I thought Nana would probably usher him to school, with tsuna supporting her decision all the way. and yes, the blue fabric in Tsuna's pendant is the omamori Kyouko gave him.

oh, and a memento mori was something often used in paintings way back when. generally speaking, it's something (a symbol was it?) that reminds you of death, that it's everywhere and can catch up with anyone at any time.

welp, on that overly cheerful note, I hoped you enjoyed this.


	4. Ticking Bomb

Sasagawa Kyouko's death affected many people. Her parents, for one. The community which she was cheerfully part of. The classmates whom she'd shared many memories with. The friends that knew everything about her and vice versa. Wherever one looked in Namimori, there was always this feeling of something missing, a vacancy that could not be filled.

But three people were struck the most deeply by her loss.

Her brother, Sasagawa Ryohei, with whom she'd shared a beautiful, unbreakable bond of love between siblings.

Her almost lover, Sawada Tsunayoshi, who she'd been waiting on for over two years until that fated night when their first date turned into his first true loss.

And her best friend, Kurokawa Hana, who had been there for her for as long as she could have remembered, sharing both joyful and sad times in equal measure.

However, unlike what she'd observed of the first two, it was unbelievably more difficult for Hana to move on, because the shock of the loss still hadn't left her. And who could blame her? From the moment she'd found until the present time, she'd felt that the world was rushing by her and she was being left behind.

That night, that horrible, despicable night, she'd gone out for emergency grocery shopping since her mother had declared that they didn't have a single piece of meat at home. Under the unrelenting rain and the weak rays of the rising moon, with an umbrella in hand that she was eternally grateful to have remembered, she'd met her best friend's brother.

He had been running in the rain and was, understandably, soaked from head to toe. When she'd scolded him as usual, instead of excitedly declaring his athlete's resolve as she'd come to expect over the years, he had remained silent.

_Silent._

It was spooky, but, once she'd finally gotten the reason out of him, so painfully understandable.

She had remembered her first friend, her best friend, being all nervous and excited and happy just a few hours before.

And now she was gone.

_Dead._

**Dead.**

She'd wanted to blame someone, anyone, and in her turbulent state, her hazy, somewhat inaccessible mind had come to the conclusion that it was all Sawada's fault.

Yes, Sawada. Because the date had been with _him._ Because _he_ should have protected her from whatever had happened, even at the cost of his life. Because _he_ always got kind, innocent Kyouko into some kind of trouble, always bringing her anguish. Because _he _was the one constantly having swarms of suspicious people around him.

It was all _his_ fault.

She would have preferred to stay in her room some more days, weeks, months even. But she knew. She knew that, wherever she was, Kyouko wouldn't approve. She'd want her to move on, giving her a dazzling smile and saying something almost unbearably sweet, all the while defying the laws of physics by having floating sparkles and flowers and outright general _pinkness_ hovering behind her.

So, after two days of mourning, Hana pulled herself together and went to school. She'd hoped to catch Sawada and tear him a new one, but he wasn't there, nor was he there the day after.

But he appeared on the fifth day.

When she found him, he was sitting on his assigned seat, looking out the window. An enormous storm had almost surfaced from within her, but she kept it at bay as she walked purposefully towards him, one arm raised in preparation to slap him-

And then his eyes met hers, and she saw grief and anger and and guilt and a small, quivering child that was not quite lost but not quite there either. Her hand froze in mid-swing and her eyes widened, unwittingly gathering tears at their corners. Because she'd seen those eyes before, when she'd looked into the mirror that morning, and she realized that he already blamed himself as much as she blamed him, that he was left as broken as her.

She couldn't take it anymore. There was no one to blame, nothing to direct her anger towards, and the only shoulder to cry on she'd ever had was now long gone. So she ran out of the classroom and through the corridors and up the stairs, hoping that they'd all remain empty so no one would see her crying because she felt so _ashamed_ that she'd given him the blame when he didn't deserve it.

That's how Ryohei found her in the corridors, when she almost ran into him blinded by her tears. In that moment, her mind overcome with panic, the only thing she could think of was that _she had to hide her face_, but she couldn't think clearly now. So instead of hiding behind her hands, she pressed her face against his shoulder, muttering curses and threats and _don't-you-dare_s while tears streamed down her face and sobs racked her body.

And to the utmost surprise of the only aware part of her mind, the tension she didn't know had been there left his body and he slumped against her as his arms hesitantly wrapped around her in a comforting manner. But with the trembling of his frame she didn't know if it was to comfort her or himself and she didn't care.

She couldn't blame anyone.

She couldn't take it all out on anything.

But she was being offered a shoulder to cry on and _goddamn_ she couldn't afford to refuse.

* * *

After that day – _that nobody would know about_ – she started observing both of them. Ryohei, though still deeply struck and certainly not over it yet, was succeeding amazingly at moving on. It must have been in the genes, as she knew Kyouko would have been the same and her chest was starting to hurt so she decided to leave this train of thought.

Sawada on the other hand... he was an enigma. Outwardly, he'd gotten over it pretty quickly, with only an air of wistfulness surrounding him at times. However, that glimpse into his eyes that were so much like hers had opened up her own and showed what he tried to hide behind a façade. Oh, it was very well hidden. Well enough to keep even his closest friends oblivious. But she had seen herself in him, looked into deepest chasms of his soul, and she could see what others didn't.

What she saw sent a shiver down her spine.

This guy, there was something about him, something so inherently dangerous that it could inspire some kind of irrational fear in the most cynical person in Namimori. The grief was still there, as was the guilt. But he no longer seemed lost, he seemed determined. And the anger, oh the anger that wasn't even that anymore but pure, unaltered wrath. Wrath that gave birth to hatred, accompanied by an intense sense of vindictiveness.

At that time, he disappeared again for a few days. When he came back, though, that mask was so carefully crafted, so well-fitted to his face, that had she not seen what lied underneath, she would have thought he was almost completely over it.

But he wasn't.

All that she had seen, all that had instilled a primal fear into her heart, was tightly and carefully contained. He had not let go of those feelings while he'd been away. No, he'd suppressed them, and whenever they grew he suppressed them further.

Sawada was a time bomb, and he would explode soon.

Very soon.

Kurokawa Hana would only find out years later that she'd hit the nail dead center.

* * *

The last few months had been a huge, colourful, busy blur for Chrome Dokuro, starting from the moment Boss told them he had officially accepted his position as Vongola Decimo. She had been very happy (weighed down a bit by the loss of her friend), of course, even more when he'd allowed her to bring anyone with her as long as they wished to join too.

Convincing Mukuro-sama hadn't been very hard, mostly because she knew that deep, very deep (very, _very_ deep) down, he cared quite a lot for Boss. The rest had simply followed Mukuro-sama as they always did.

No more than two weeks later, Boss, along with the rest of the Guardians, started going on regular trips to Italy. Mostly on weekends, but they also took one or two weeks off for school when it was deemed necessary. Of course, they didn't all go with him all the time. That had only happened the first time, when they'd been introduced to Vongola Headquarters and told in no uncertain terms of their importance and their duties towards the Famiglia.

From then on they had kept travelling between Japan and Italy. Most of the time, only two or three guardians went with him while the rest stayed in Namimori and tried to catch up in school.

"_We're doing the Inheritance Ceremony after graduation for a reason. I don't want this all to interrupt your education. Or mine. Reborn would skin me alive if I did that. After middle school and the whole inheritance stuff is all said and done, we'll be living mostly in Italy. Since nobody here can speak Italian well enough to attend a high school there, though, we'll be mostly home-schooled. Are you guys ok with that? Good. Thank you."_

That was what Boss had said, the reason why they hadn't left Namimori immediately. It just further served to prove that he was always thinking of others.

As for why they were travelling so much, especially Boss, it was to make the transition of generations a bit smoother. Basically, from what she'd understood and experienced, the ninth generation was introducing them to their new positions, making them familiar with the authority and duties that came along with it as well as letting them tag along on some minor – and a few not so minor – missions to accumulate experience.

Boss himself had a lot more to do though, as the position he was going to fulfill was the most challenging and difficult of all. For one, she'd noticed that he'd been drinking a lot more coffee lately and the bags under his eyes seemed to be permanent by now.

All his guardians had expressed their worry in one way or another – _You should take a break, Tsuna. – I can't fight an omnivore when he's dead._ – but he just waved them off and reminded them of their own duties.

Chrome, was worried. Really worried. But not just about Boss.

"Haru-chan... I wonder, are you doing alright?" she muttered as she looked out the window of her personal chambers. Graduation was next week and the Inheritance Ceremony two weeks after that. Still, she hadn't caught sight of her friend as of yet. Ever since the funeral – and let's not think about that lest you get depressed again – it was like Haru-chan had disappeared off the face of the earth. She couldn't find her, no matter where she looked (admittedly, she didn't know where she lived, so her friend was probably at home when she wasn't a school, a time where she couldn't quite catch her because she herself was at school and had promised Boss that she'd do her best).

Her worry-wrapped thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. "Chrome, Mukuro, Croquant-san is looking for you. He said he'd be at the rose garden." said the soothingly familiar voice she immediately recognized, even before she turned around to look at him.

"Thanks, Boss. We'll be there right away." she replied with a shy smile, getting one from him in return as he nodded and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Kufufu, let's go, my dear Chrome. I'm curious as to what that man has prepared for us today."

"Hai, Mukuro-sama." she automatically responded, and even when her head still whirred with thoughts of worry and sadness, she couldn't keep the small smile off her face even after they reached the rose garden.

That was, after all, the effect Boss had on all his Guardians.

* * *

Rejection was a dreadful thing.

It had been months, _months_, since Haru had gotten that invitation into the Vongola. Even though she'd been urged to reply as soon as possible, she still hadn't. She knew Tsuna-san hadn't brought it up because he didn't want to pressure her and she knew that she was being so incredibly selfish, but she couldn't help it.

Miura Haru feared rejection.

She was afraid that, after all, the letter really was just a cruel prank, like the ones she'd fallen victim to throughout her childhood, or that Tsuna-san had changed his mind but was too nice to tell her or that his friends would all hate her like that Gokudera seemed to – although lately he'd been quite civil around her, but the now dominant irrational part of her brain chose to ignore that little fact.

So every time she'd stepped out of the house fully intending on finally giving him her reply, a little monster inside her heart made out of doubt and fear started whispering how everything would go wrong and she would always remain friendless and-

Haru shook her head wildly, trying to rid herself of those thoughts. Now was not the time to doubt. No, it definitely wasn't, because this was most probably her last chance.

A few days ago, she'd overheard Tsuna-san's three wonderful little siblings talking about how they'd all soon be living in Italy and her heart had frozen over because oh god she was running out of time!

In the few days that remained before the fated date, Haru did her utmost best to erase every remnant of her existence in Namimori. Graduation was over with, so she needn't worry about school. She carefully chose what to pack from all her belongings, deciding to travel light, and donated everything else to a charity organization. After all, she didn't mind sleeping on the sofa for a few nights.

How her parents hadn't taken notice of anything was beyond her, but then again, they never took notice of anything that didn't concern work, which made leaving that much easier, both emotionally and practically. On the morning she was to leave, she left a simple note on the kitchen table stating that she'd run away and they'd never be able to find her. They would probably notice the note a few weeks from now.

However, as much as she told herself to, she still couldn't take the most crucial step: talking face to face with Tsuna-san and accepting his invitation. No matter how much she scolded or encouraged herself, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

When the fated day finally came, she was fervently hoping that she hadn't just ruined her last chance at life. Since she didn't know where or when they'd planned to meet, she took a train to the airport at the crack of dawn, suitcase in hand and a small handbag for her passport, some papers and a few sweets (the same handbag she'd found her invitation in).

In the airport, she waited. She waited and waited and felt like a fool. What was she doing, sitting here alone, waiting for a miracle to happen? Was she really that airheaded? She kept berating herself and bit by bit, started letting go of her last hope.

Just as she was about to stand up and leave, a wonderful, beautiful voice called out to her, "Haru? Is that you?"

Stunned, she looked up and let her shiny eyes take in the sight of the group before her. Some were her age, some older and some much younger, but they were all familiar to some degree. And right in front of her was her crush and soon-to-be Boss, Sawada Tsunayoshi.

"Tsu... Tsuna... san." she whispered, almost not believing her eyes. Perhaps Fortuna had taken pity on a lost, lonely girl today.

Now, Haru didn't really know much about the Mafia. She knew pretty much nothing, actually. So she was pretty lost when it came to formally accepting an invitation into a Famiglia, the largest and most powerful of them all, nonetheless. So she called on the lessons of manners and etiquette that she'd been through since the moment she could walk, being brought up as the possible heiress of a large company, and moved herself into the deepest bow she could manage, a dogeza. Everything in her posture showed utmost respect and submission.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola Decimo. I, Miura Haru, hereby accept your invitation into the Vongola Famiglia. I will serv-" But that was as far as she got before she felt a hand on her shoulder, lifting her up to see the same person she'd just addressed kneeling in front of her, at her eye level.

His eyes looked both panicked and anguished and she couldn't help but wonder if she'd been the cause for that. Had she done anything wrong? Had her reply come too late? Before she could keep sinking into her thoughts, though, the grip on her shoulder tightened, making her snap to attention.

"Haru," he started, eyes firmly locked with her own, "Never, ever, bow like that before me. You may be part of the Famiglia now, but you're also part of my family. You are not my subordinate, you are my friend. And I will make sure it stays that way."

For her part, Haru could only stare at him in wide eyed awe. This teen, no, this man before her, who she'd thought kind compassionate, accepting and powerful, was all that. Yes, he was all that, and so much more. With four simple sentences he'd given her friends, a family, a place to call home, and asked for nothing in return except being able to protect her.

He had saved her and she was eternally grateful for that.

So before he could even utter a _"__Do you understand?"_, she threw her arms around him and thanked him and thanked him again and again, holding back the sobs that were threatening to rise up her throat.

Then, she felt a pair of slender arms wrap around her from behind, startling her out of her crying, only to see Chrome-chan kneeling behind her, offering her a sympathetic smile that somehow managed to convey how much she knew what Haru was feeling right now. Turning her head forward again, she accepted the hand offered along with a kind smile from Tsuna-san and stood up with her other friend in tow (and God it felt _good_ to say that!).

Her eyes then proceeded to widen in horror as she made one very important realization.

"Oh no! I don't have a ticket! I can't go along with you guys." she said, dismayed.

The brunet's smile, however, never wavered. He just rummaged through his small backpack until he found what he'd been looking for and handed it to her.

It was a ticket.

To Italy.

"Tsuna-san... you... you knew." she whispered in amazement.

He leaned just a bit closer to her, which curiously enough, did not cause her to blush madly as it would have some months before, and nodded slightly, whispering in an equally soft voice, "I always knew. From the moment I left you that letter."

The joy that filled her at those words shouldn't have been possible to contain in such a small body, but Haru managed somehow.

* * *

The next week was a total mess. Between getting used to living in a foreign country, finding or finishing hundreds of different tasks according to their positions and preparing everything for the Inheritance Ceremony that was coming around the corner faster than they would have liked, not to mention the general insanity of their Famiglia, the tenth generation of leaders of the Vongola were far more than busy. They were overwhelmed.

The event had been organized, the invitations had been sent, some even personally, the place had been reserved and prepared and Nono still refused to tell Tsuna what he had planned to actually do for the ceremony, since they didn't have anything to pass down as a sign of trust in the next generation or whatever the act was supposed to symbolize.

Before they knew it, the day had come.

The day of the Inheritance Ceremony.

* * *

AN:

-legasp!- what might this be? is it possible? a chapter posted only two days after the last? Blasphemy! - well sue me, I was bored. Also, Hana needs some love. she gets so little from you guys in ff. and that HanaxRyohei moment there... I couldn't resist. And it's one of the only canon pairings along with ColonelloxLal, so I thought: why the hell not?

Oh, and Croquant is the ninth generation mist guardian. his name makes me hungry, just like the rest of the ninth generation.

Next chapter, the long awaited Inheritance Ceremony, in which we find out why the hell this fic is called Redemption. After that comes the plot twist! -evil grin-

**Please leave a review on your way out. Thank you~**


	5. Sin, Punishment and Redemption

Kozato Enma did not want to be here.

He _really_ did not want to be here. In fact, neither did his Guardians.

Still, it was his responsibility as both the Boss of a closely allied Famiglia and the center of today's celebration's best friend.

That did not mean he had to like it, though. This event brought back painful and shameful memories to him and his family. It didn't help the situation that they were being glared at from every possible angle and regarded as barely tamed beasts in rusty, weak cages that could snap at any moment.

Of course, they had expected no less after the stunt they'd pulled last year (Enma had to suppress a wince at the memory), but the utter, raw animosity conveyed entirely in heated glares, accusing whispers and isolation tactics from pretty much all the most powerful and dangerous men of the underworld would have been unnerving even to the most jaded Mafioso.

That the admittedly small Shimon Famiglia felt uncomfortable was the understatement of the century.

Trying to blend into the background and not really succeeding, he kept an eye out for threats as he tried to tune out the whispers and not-really-whispers of the people surrounding them. After all, they might all have a common ally, but these people were still Mafia and therefore quite dangerous no matter the situation. Especially if they didn't like you. Plus, all the glares and unfriendly gazes directed at him were making him feel like a marked man or a frightened deer expecting a predator to jump out of the bushes at any given time.

In short, Enma felt antsy.

It did not help in the least that he felt utterly underdressed. Everyone around him, no matter how low or high ranked in their Famiglie, was wearing nice, crisp and in many cases expensive suits, many of which were clearly tailor-made, and other valuable artefacts like watches and the like.

He, in contrast, was wearing the nicest shirt he could find (which wasn't really nice at all) accompanied with a pair of dress pants that had used to be too big for him. His family were no different, but that only served to make them stand out even more. They couldn't help that they didn't have much money – certainly not as much as the Famiglie all these people showcased – so buying fancy, expensive clothes was pretty much way above their budget (and don't ask him where Shitt-P got all _her _clothes or whatever she felt like wearing because nobody knew – _nobody_).

Enma shrank even further into himself.

He wondered if Tsuna-kun would think badly of them.

He almost slapped himself. Of course not! Tsuna-kun wasn't that kind of person. How could he ever even consider it? It was laughable.

…

Right?

Just as doubt started creeping up on him, a hand unexpectedly landed on his shoulder, almost giving him a heart attack.

"Gyaah!" he turned around, startled by the sudden contact, only to come face to face with the very person he'd been thinking of. "Tsu- Tsuna-kun! Don't scare me like that."

The addressed teen offered him a smile in return, suppressing a gigg- a chuckle. Suppressing a _chuckle_. "Sorry, Enma. I was calling you but you didn't respond, so I thought something was the matter."

"A- ah, no, it was nothing. I was just thinking."

"Hm, but are you sure nothing is the matter?" he asked again, gaze surveying the surrounding crowd of Mafioso. His eyes narrowed slightly when he caught some of the whispers about the Shimon and their Boss and Enma felt a spark of warmth spread through his chest.

He smiled reassuringly, no longer feeling antsy or threatened. He didn't know what it was, but he always felt like this around Tsuna-kun, whose presence was soothingly warm and welcoming. "It's ok Tsuna-kun. Really."

The Sky glanced at him doubtfully, but let the matter go. "Ah! There's someone I'd like you to meet. Haru!" he called, and soon after, a Japanese girl with dark hair pulled into a short ponytail trotted up to them. He turned back to his friend, "Enma, this is Haru, the newest member of my family. Haru, this is Enma, my best friend. He's from Palermo."

She grinned, "Oh, I've always wanted to go Palermo!"

The redhead scratched his neck, not really knowing what to say, "Um, that's nice, I guess. I- it's nice to meet you, Haru."

She beamed at him, her eyes sparkling with mirth, "It's nice to meet you too. So you're the famous Enma, huh?"

He was taken aback, "F- famous... ?"

"Yup. Tsuna-san wouldn't stop talking about his best friend and how strong he is and how alike the both of you are. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was bragging!" she giggled.

Tsuna-kun grinned sheepishly, releasing a nervous laugh while a pink blush adorned his face, identical to the one on Enma's, who didn't know if should have felt honoured or embarrassed.

"Little bro!" yelled a voice from not too far away, from a young, somewhat familiar blond man.

His best friend's face brightened when he took in the sight, "Dino-san! It's been a while!" he then looked at the other boy gultily.

Enma just smiled and pushed him slightly towards the waiting man, "Go on. Don't let me stop you." receiving an apologetic look for his efforts as the other walked away, he turned to look at the other person left with him. Then he realized something.

"Hey, I actually know you. You hanged around Tsuna-kun a lot back then, along with this other girl. What was her name again?" he asked, having finally somewhat recognized the girl before him.

Said girl's smile became a bit strained and her voice dropped slightly in volume, "Kyouko... her name was Kyouko."

"Yes, right. Where is she? Did she also come with Tsuna-kun?" he asked, but stopped when he saw her smile drop completely to be replaced a pained expression, "Wait... was? Did... something happen?"

Haru exhaled slowly as she grimaced, "We... we should probably... sit down for this."

He nodded worriedly as they found a corner where they could talk with relative privacy.

* * *

Takeshi watched as Senpai and Gokudera interacted with the Shimon Guardians, talking, laughing and occasionally yelling at each other, after Tsuna had left with Dino. The scene brought a smile to his face, the real kind that he'd been using a lot more in the last three years, but he refrained from joining them.

There was someone else he wanted to talk to, after all.

"Hey Squalo!" he said cheerfully, almost obnoxious grin firmly in place. "How are you doing?"

"Che." was the white haired man's reply. He caught sight of that incredibly annoying grin and immediately averted his gaze, lest his eyes melt from the sheer stupidity radiating from those miraculously white teeth.

Takeshi just kept grinning, a hint of amusement entering his expression. Sometimes, only sometimes, he actually did it on purpose just to see what kind of reaction he could get out of people. It never failed to amuse him, especially with the temperamental ones. Squalo was a perfect example of this, second only to Gokudera.

His grin lessened, however, when he saw the man's furrowed brow, one hand around his chin while the other hovered near the handle of the sword strapped to his waist (because he always insisted on carrying an extra sword around whenever he attended important event such as this one, which was admittedly not often). He knew that pose. He'd seen it countless times while training together in the future, whenever they sat at the fire and he would start to contemplate the current state of things.

Squalo was worried about something. He was probably having some kind of premonition, if his focused expression was anything to go by. He'd called it a master swordsman's sixth sense. Takeshi had secretly called it woman's intuition whenever his attention was drawn to the man's long, silky hair. Of course, he'd never voiced this particular idea. He was optimistic, not suicidal, thank you very much.

"Think something will happen?" he asked, half hoping he didn't actually know his pseudo teacher and fellow Rain as well as he thought he did. Whenever Squalo had an actual premonition and not just a bad feeling, something big would happen. And by big he meant enormous. Like when he'd practically predicted the gigantic power held by the true wielders of the Mare Rings. In a way, it reminded him of Tsuna's Hyper Intuition, only less specific and far more random.

Squalo regarded him from the corner of his eye and was, for once, forgoing his usually loud speech. "Just watch out for threats. Though for some reason I keep getting the feeling that your baby Boss is the biggest problem here..."

Takeshi let out a short laugh, not minding his former mentor's glare in the least, "Are you maybe worried that we're not ready?"

He growled, "Of course I'm worried, you shithead! That stupid old man is handing the whole Famiglia over to a bunch of kids! What is there not to be worried about, huh?"

The younger Rain's grin stayed intact, but his eyes flashed dangerously, "Really? Is that what you think?"

The assassin's gaze swept over him, assessing him, before he let out a snort, "Of course. How can I sleep in peace knowing that a brat without resolve like you is handling things around here?"

Takeshi looked at him for a moment, before letting a smaller, truer smile form on his lips, "Ah, but you forget, Squalo. Tsuna has already found his resolve and it lies with the Vongola. If the Sky knows where to go, the Rain will follow."

The man snorted derisively, "So, what? You're going back to the way of the sword now that you need it again? It doesn't work like that, brat."

His smile turned wistful and he shook his head, "Tsuna's made up his mind. He's staying. So I am too. We all are. And I don't care what I have to do as long as I can continue helping him."

"Even if you have to give up that stupid sport of yours?" Squalo looked at him inquisitively.

"Even if I have to give up baseball. I'll give the sword my all for the rest of my life if it means I can keep protecting our family." And his sharp eyes showed nothing but sincerity.

A moment passed with only silence between them.

Then Squalo barked out a rough laugh and broke into a razor sharp smirk. He really did look like a shark sometimes, Takeshi mused absentmindedly.

"You're growing up, kid. It was about time. Don't die on me before you're finished. I still need to teach you a lesson or two about the laws of this world."

He released a short laugh, "I wouldn't dream of it. After all, I can't miss such an important lecture, sensei."

Squalo half snarled, half snorted, and then muttered to himself, but loud enough for the other to hear, "One day. One day I swear I'll wipe that idiotic grin off your face."

"Good luck!" he responded in an upbeat manner, earning him a sword too close to his arm for comfort. Squalo continued slashing at him while he ducked and dodged the swings and stabs, wry grin still in place. "Maa maa, let's not go too far. Tsuna wouldn't like it if either of us got hurt. Especially on such a special day as today, ne?"

The master swordsman growled aggravatingly, but relented in his attacks, stopping his advance altogether after a few seconds and storing the sword back into his sleeve. He never stopped glaring, though.

But before the situation could escalate into something more dangerous – especially counting that they were surrounded by the Bosses of different Famiglie and the smallest mistake might cause a full scale war – a loud crash sounded from somewhere to their side, followed by a string of equally loud and extremely colourful curses from a glaringly familiar voice.

Squalo pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something along the lines of 'stupid paperwork' and 'reparation costs'. Turning to the general direction of the noise, he took off, drawing his sword again and swinging it wildly to make people _move away _because _goddammit_ he had a fucking Boss to calm down and nothing was going to stop him.

"VOI! Shitty Boss! Don't trash the place before the whole thing's even started. Did you hear me?! VOI!"

Takeshi simply chuckled at the display. No matter how much time passed, it seemed some things always stayed the same.

Now, Chrome mentioned something about snacks before the ceremony. Where did she say the refreshments table was again?

* * *

It was about time. All the guests were inside the large room (more like hall) of the high-class hotel they had rented out for the occasion. When Tsuna had asked why they couldn't just hold the ceremony at Headquarters, he had gotten a barking laugh from Coyote-san before they'd explained to him that something like that would be the prefect scenario to sneak spies into their territory, something they wanted to avoid at all costs even if the whole crowd was composed of allied Famiglie.

He shook his head to get himself back on track. He was standing before the ginormous closed doors. His Guardians were standing behind him, a bunch of reassuring presences in the midst of a very insecure situation. All he had to do now was wait for the old grandfather clock in the corner of the room to strike eight o' clock, enter the room and play along with whatever grandpa had planned.

**Dong.**

It was eight sharp.

Squashing the last bit of nervousness that nested in his belly, Tsuna took a deep breath and pushed the large mahogany doors open. He walked down the red-carpeted aisle, followed closely by his Guardians, more than aware that absolutely everyone's eyes were drawn to his expensively clad form – and suddenly he felt so very small.

Closing his eyes momentarily, he pushed those thoughts away. Now was really not the time to slip back into his Dame persona. Opening them again, he found that he was almost on top of grandpa and if he didn't stop right now he _would_ be. Literally.

Forcing his legs to a stop that somehow managed to seem graceful to the Bosses watching his every move, but who were far enough away not to notice the minute awkwardness of his movements, he looked up at his predecessor.

_'Now what?'_ was the message Tsuna tried to convey through his eyes and send directly into the mind of the old man standing before him. It didn't seem to be working, though, as said man kept smiling somewhat mischievously at him. The man then turned to crowd assembled in the large hall and began to speak.

"Members and allies of the Vongola Famiglia." he addressed them, "You all stand here to witness the creation of the tenth generation of the Vongola that shall be led by Decimo, Sawada Tsunayoshi. For centuries, what was passed down to symbolize the birth of a new generation was the Sin of the Vongola, a vial of the blood of Primo's closest ally and the representation of all the blood we have spilled, the lies we have weaved and the sins we have committed since the reign of Secondo."

He paused and seemed to be carefully choosing his words, then continued in a grave voice, "However, this was not the will of Primo, who, four hundred years ago, founded the Vongola as a vigilante group to protect his town and the people within it. From the moment I took on the mantle of Boss of this Famiglia, I have wanted to help it rise from the ashes of what it once used to be. Alas, the darkness of our world was too dense for me to break through and I was never able to fulfill that wish.

"For this reason, I wished to pass down not the Sin, but the Punishment of the Vongola, which contained both the blood and the will of our founder. Sadly, it is not in existence anymore, as it has served to aid the Famiglia in recent times of need. But I have discovered that I have no need to pass down anything to the next generation.

"From this moment on, the Vongola Famiglia is no more. Decimo, no, Neo Primo shall, in my place, build it back up from its foundations. We will start anew from this generation onwards. And to remind the following generations of our new resolve, this ceremony will serve to create yet another symbol of remembrance."

Having said this, he turned to the right, where his Storm, Coyote Nougat, was waiting with his hand outstretched holding a red velvet cushion. What drew Tsuna's attention, however, was the object _on_ the cushion.

It was a long, silver knife. Its handle was encrusted with gems of different shades of red in an intricate pattern and the smooth, shiny blade glistened in the light of the chandelier. It was breathtakingly beautiful and gave the impression of a priceless, ancient artefact. It was an object that caught the eye of everyone present and would stay in in their memories for years to come.

The man held the knife expertly in one hand, the other stretched out in his direction. After a split second of hesitation, Tsuna offered up his hand, which was grasped firmly as the knife touched the skin and then pierced it cleanly.

Pearls of scarlet blood slid down his palm and dropped into a glass vial in the Storm's hand that had previously gone unnoticed. He watched in morbid fascination as more blood flowed down into the vial until two thirds were filled.

At that point, someone pressed a red handkerchief into his palm, effectively stopping the flow. Looking up, his eyes met the Sun's, Brow Nie Jr., as a yellow flame ignited in the man's ring a neared the small wound, healing it in a matter of seconds. The brunet nodded in thanks and looked back in front of him, where grandpa (no, Nono. Right now he was Nono.) was gently placing the already sealed vial in the ornate box that had once contained the Sin.

Lifting it slightly in his hands for everyone in the room to see, he then turned to the younger Boss, "With this blood, the blood of Neo Vongola Primo and current Decimo, the oath is sealed. This is our redemption. The Redemption of the Vongola."

He closed the lid and handed it to his successor; and for one, fleeting moment, Tsuna saw in front of him, not a mighty Mafia Boss nor a powerful Sky, but an old, tired, grateful man relieved of his burden. His gaze turned downwards, towards the box in his hands that suddenly seemed to weight far more than it should have, and then towards the rest of the hall and all the eyes that were raptly watching him.

He took a calming breath, cleared his head and spoke, "I, Sawada Tsunayoshi, accept the duties, responsibilities, privileges and authority passed down to me as Vongola Decimo."

Then, his mind turned calm and calculating. A small but strong flame appeared on his forehead and his now orange eyes, blazing with strength and resolve, swept over the assembled Bosses and members of many different Famiglie.

"And I also accept the burden placed upon me as Neo Vongola Primo."

His eyes turned to look at Nono before they turned back to the small crowd, "I won't let you down."

It was deathly silent.

As he stood there, Redemption in hand, and waited for something, _anything_ to happen, all those observing him suddenly saw something that should not have been possible. Hovering over the new Boss, was a ghostly vision, almost illusionary but not quite, of a blond, blue-eyed man, his forehead alight with Sky flames and a small, seemingly proud and satisfied smile on his lips.

The vision disappeared as quickly as it had come and the silence turned even more deafening.

Tsuna's heart was beating erratically, even with his flames ignited.

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump.

Clapping.

On the very front row, he saw his best friend Enma. Wonderful, idiotic Enma.

Who was _clapping._

More clapping.

A bit further back, in the right wing, Dino had joined in.

Then Naito.

Uni.

Byakuran.

His father.

Basil.

_Xaxnxus_ – albeit reluctantly.

Squalo.

Nono's Guardians.

_His_ Guardians.

His _family._

The clapping wasn't overwhelming. It didn't fill the whole room. But it was more than enough to bring a small, startled smile to his lips.

Unlike the nine previous Inheritance Ceremonies of the Vongola, this time, most didn't stay behind after the affair to exchange 'pleasantries', make small deals and hand out subtle death threats. Almost everyone left immediately after, many outraged, some confused, some contemplative and a small few even hopeful, leaving the newly appointed Decimo with only those he called his friends (or at least close acquaintances).

The appointment of Sawada Tsunayoshi as head of the most powerful Famiglia shook the Italian Mafia – and the rest of the world by extension – down to its foundation. This was the turning point, the beginning of a new era for the underworld.

And it all started with one Sawada Tsunayoshi, descendant of Primo, Vongola decimo and Neo Primo, Sky Guardian of the clam.

And the Redemption of the Vongola.

* * *

AN:

Man, I've been bored lately. So, yet another chapter. yay! not much to say about this one except: "Oh, so _that_'s why it's called Redemption."

also, I suck at speeches. deal with it.

**Please leave a review on your way out. Thank you~.**


	6. Ala Bianca

Slash.

Swipe.

Stab.

Thrust.

A deadly dance.

His hands moved with unprecedented coordination.

Speed and focus were a must in this battlefield.

He looked around him. He was surrounded.

With quick, precise movements, he decimated his enemy.

More enemies poured in. There was no end to them.

He clutched his weapon of choice tightly in his hand. A bead of sweat ran down his neck.

A struggle for survival.

Take out one opponent. Move on to the next.

Finally, their numbers started dwindling. He decided to retreat temporarily, catch a breather before he plunged back into the battlefield.

Heaving a sigh, Tsuna placed the pen on his desk and let his head droop in exhaustion. He'd thought fighting Bermuda had been hard, but compared to this, that had been a walk in the park.

Sawada Tsunayoshi had now found the current bane of his existence.

**Paperwork.**

This had certainly _not_ been in the job description Reborn had given him. Then again, when did Reborn ever tell him the important stuff? At least Nono had offered to help lighten the workload, otherwise he would have probably passed out from exhaustion by this point. He silently thanked whichever deity would listen for small mercies.

Sighing again, he lifted his head, some small, child-like part of him hoping that it had all been a bad dream and that there weren't piles upon piles of documents to be read and signed on his desk.

Nope. The paperwork was still there. Looking away hadn't made it disappear. In his less lucid moments, when the monotony of the task crawled under his skin and made his brain less than non-functional, he sometimes wished he were a wizard so that he could vanish that gigantic stack of paper into his hat with a _poof_ and be done with it.

Then he would wake up and curse himself in every language he could speak fluently (which now amounted to three) because he had no time to doze off and if he missed dinner because he couldn't finish his work on time, Reborn would have his hide.

With yet another heavy sigh, he picked up the discarded pen and looked at the next document. It was a simple report that mentioned some strange movements from one of the smaller Famiglie in their vicinity. They were no allies, nor were they enemies, although for such a small Famiglia, he remembered from his lessons that they had been around for quite a while – they were almost half as old as the Vongola.

_Ala Bianca._

White Wing... hadn't he heard that name before? Well, there was that one lesson... but no, that wasn't it. It had been in a completely different situation. Now, if he could just recall when...

He gasped.

* * *

_He was tearing them apart like paper and they offered no worthwhile resistance. He hadn't killed them yet. No, there was still some hesitation to kill, to take lives, but he was being spurred on by something, something – his hatred, his anger, his thirst for blood. Once upon a time, he would have let go of those feelings, lest they poison his heart. But now, he couldn't._

_Not this time._

_Not when they had taken away his light – his Moon._

_And so, he tore through them like a gardener to unwanted weeds._

_He didn't want to kill them, it went against everything he stood for. But this voice inside him, this part that had never gotten release, was reassuring him, whispering seductively in his ear. It had been there for a while now, from the moment he took his first life, from the moment he allowed his heart to harbour the first drop of hatred, it had been there._

_And the whispered promises were getting too tempting._

_So he'd come. To exact his revenge, he'd come. And if he was going to do this, he might as well start with the head, the one who had orchestrated that attack._

_As he was about to plunge his hand into his chest, the man spoke, desperately, instinctively – _truthfully,_added the logic and coolness of his mind. He spoke of betrayal, of having been framed, of broken promises and enormous regret._

_The man spoke of another group, another Famiglia, that had made them do this._

_The Formica weren't at fault, at least that's what he was saying._

_No, _they _made us do it._

The Ala Bianca.

_It was preposterous. It was ridiculous. It was the mumblings of a desperate man about to die._

_It was the_ truth.

_But these men- these men..._

_/_As his eyes widened in horror, he could do nothing but watch her eyes widen in shock and her back arch in pain.

_They had..._

_/ _He could do nothing but see her body falling as if in slow motion.

_But they weren't really..._

_/_He could do nothing to save the life that was quickly fading from those beautiful, _beautiful _eyes or to stop the red_redcrimsonred_ stain blooming on the front and back of her summer dress.

… _at fault..._

_/_He could do _nothing._

_They... they were..._

_/_He was _helpless_ to watch.

_He could..._

_/_Her lips, bloody and pale as they were, were stretched in a _smile_.

… _he couldn't..._

_/_"Goodbye... Tsu-kun..."

_He couldn't... he couldn't forgive them._

_/_Her eyes unfocused as she looked beyond him and the sky, to a place where he could not reach her.

_Not this time. The wound ran too deep. It hurt too much._

_As he looked at the near carnage around him and was nauseated by what he saw, he knew this wasn't like him. But he'd come this far, and he couldn't stop._

_He'd come with a purpose._

_No, he wouldn't kill. He would ignore the voice. The twisted, treacherous, loathsome voice._

_These men would live._

_But they would live through hell first._

_And then... then..._

_He couldn't go back to his family. Not like this. If he couldn't forgive, if had to resent, then he'd keep a tight lid on all that. His family didn't have to see. He didn't want to burden them any more than they already were. He'd get over this on his own._

_And he would find them._

_The white wing._

Ala Bianca.

* * *

Tsuna's hands were shaking, but he paid them no mind.

Ala Bianca.

The ones who had organized everything from the shadows. The ones who had wanted to get to him and to do that, had used both his beloved and an allied Famiglia.

The ones who truly deserved to die.

And they were some outdated, small-time Famiglia?

_Really?_

**Really?!**

A small laugh escaped his lips, slightly hysterical and too high in tone. He wore a bitter smile as the pen fell from his hand and suddenly he didn't care about paperwork or dinner or his tutor anymore.

But no, they were very old. That couldn't be all there was to it, right? It couldn't just be a small group trying to get a higher spot in the hierarchy by challenging one of the big shots. There had to be something deeper, something more. There should-

The door opened.

"Juudaime?" said a soft, rich voice laced with worry, "Dinner's been served. We're all waiting for you."

"A- ah, is that so? I'm sorry, Gokudera-kun. I didn't notice it was already this late." he replied, trying to compose himself. "I'll be there in a moment, then."

But the other teen lingered, "Juudaime... is everything alright? You look a bit pale."

Tsuna suppressed the urge to flinch, "Of course, Gokudera-kun. You don't need to worry."

He didn't look completely convinced, but decided to let it go,"If you say so. Then I'll be going back to tell them to wait a bit longer."

"Thank you."

With that, he left the room, letting the young Don sag into his chair. He sighed yet again, "It'll have to wait... just a little longer... it'll have to wait." he muttered, before he stood up and left the office himself.

* * *

Lambo missed Mamma. He also missed Kyouko-neechan. And he missed the other house. The one where he didn't get lost and felt warm like a hug.

But Tsuna-nii and everyone else had moved here and he was a Guardian, so he had to come too, even if it meant leaving Mamma alone. Thouugh, Tsuna-nii had promised that she wouldn't be alone for too long, he'd make sure of it.

Even so, Lambo did miss their old, simple life. He also didn't like getting lost, like it tended to happen quite often lately. The big house was too big! How was he supposed to play hide-n-seek here when he didn't even know where to go?

So, in the end, he decided to do what he did best: attracting attention to get what he wanted.

"Gyahaha! Lambo-sama is going outside!"

"Lambo, no! That's bad!"

"Wait, Lambo-kun. That's dangerous! We were told to stay in the mansion. There's plenty of space in here! Why don't we go play in the garden, ne?"

"No! Lambo-san wants to go out! Lambo-san is going out now!"

"Lambo-kun!"

He ignored them and kept wreaking havoc throughout the big house, in the hopes that he would stumble upon the main entrance by sheer luck. And it seemed luck was on his side today.

There! He sprinted towards the huge double doors, successfully leaving the two girls behind, and opened them with one big push. Light filtered through the entrance hall and he revelled in his victory before jumping out, running some more and slipping between the bars of the metal gates of the front garden.

It was a close thing since he was a big boy now and not five years old anymore, but he managed.

Finally! He was out and he could explore. I-pin and Haru-neechan would probably follow him, but he didn't mind. If he got far enough away from the big house that catching him and going back would turn into a moot point, they could all have fun together!

So he kept running. Through the streets, backstreets, alleys, unofficial paths and everywhere he could explore. This place was pretty. Like, _really_ pretty. It also felt a bit familiar. Not the place itself, of course, since he'd never been around here except for the big house, but the buildings, the people, the smells and sounds, they were all so... normal. Yet, this place was way too different from their home back in Namimori.

He wondered if it had something to do with his life before Tsuna-nii. He couldn't really recall things from more than three years ago. The memories were blurry and it was really hard to remember stuff. But he knew he'd been born and partly raised here in Italy, so maybe it was like this all over the country.

If it was, he didn't mind it at all. He really liked it here. Of course, not as much as home with Mamma, but it was a close second.

"Lambo!"

"Lambo-kun!"

Oh? So they'd caught up, had they?

"You can't catch Lambo-san!" he turned around to stick his tongue out at them and kept running. Man, this was fun!

When he was out of their sight again, he ducked into an alley and watched as they split up. I-pin kept running around, looking under every rock, while Haru-neechan had stopped and was calling for him as she searched for him in the crowd.

"Lambo-kun, we have to go back! Tsuna-san will be upset if something happens!"

He decided to keep quiet and walked deeper into the alley, wondering how long it would take for them to find him. Not two minutes had passed and he already heard footsteps entering the alley cautiously. "Lambo-kun? Come on, we really have to go back now or they'll be worried."

Lambo felt a flicker of guilt at those words, but kept hiding. He wouldn't come out until they found him.

"Lambo-ku- mph! Hm ghfm tmph! _Hmph!_"

What? What was she doing? Wait, were those... muffled screams?

_Haru-neechan!_

He jumped out of his hiding spot as quickly as he could, hoping that whatever it was, he would be strong enough to protect his dear big sister.

Nothing. The alley was empty except for him and the box he'd hidden behind.

"Haru-nee... chan... ?" he called, hoping that this was all just a horrible prank that they'd pulled on him because he was being naughty and that they would appear at the entrance any moment to surprise him and... and...

"Haru-neechan! I-pin! I-pin, where are you?" he stumbled out into the street, feeling tears already prickling his eyes. Immediately, the martial artist appeared beside him.

"Lambo, that was bad-!"

"I don 't care! That's not important right now. I-pin, Haru-neechan was- someone took- they... they..."

Apparently, she could sense the situation was dire because her demeanour turned completely serious, "Lambo, what happened?"

He sniffed and tried to calm himself down. He couldn't waste time crying. Not now, when Nee-chan needed them, "They- Someone took her, I-pin! She disappeared!"

Her eyes widened, horrified at the implications. Faster than he could track, she grasped his hand and started dragging him back to the big house. Or tried to.

Since Lambo had been too busy admiring the atmosphere and the girls had only concentrated on chasing him, they didn't really know where they were, which only helped to make the boy panic even more.

It took quite a long while – _too long! _– until they reached the big house, but when they finally did, they didn't hesitate to barge in and attract as much attention as they could.

"Chrome-neechan!"

* * *

Unfortunately, Tsuna never got the chance to do proper research on Ala Bianca before everything went to hell.

It had been a cloudy day, but warm nonetheless, and he'd decided to take an early morning walk around one of the Vongola mansion's beautiful gardens. They were peaceful, calm, a refreshing sight to a newly appointed Mafia Don for sure.

Well, they _had_ been. Until one of the maids (and he was still rather flustered about that particular aspect of owning a mansion) came to him gasping for breath and handed him a crumpled envelope containing a note written in neat calligraphy, saying that it was urgent.

And the world was suddenly turned sideways and the earth was where the sky should be.

Because they had her.

They'd taken _Haru._

And they wanted _him_ in exchange.

_Alone._

**Again.**

A freezing cold hand gripped his heart.

_**Not again.**_

_**Never again.**_

* * *

Alessandro Orsonero, the Boss of the Ala Bianca Famiglia, an unremarkable man except for the countless scars that adorned his body, visible or otherwise, had many regrets in life.

He regretted not having enough resources for his Famiglia to grow as others had.

He regretted not being able to fulfill the vengeance of his ancestors, who had lost everything to that thrice-damned madhouse of clams, for the majority of his life.

He regretted entrusting said vengeance to their supposed allies, the Formica, for fear that he would lose all his men.

But now he would fix that.

He'd heard quite a bit about the Vongola's Inheritance Ceremony. After all, it had been one of the most scandalous events in the entire history of the Mafia. There was bound to be gossip. And said gossip always contained a grain or two of truth, especially if it tended to repeat itself.

One particular piece was enough of a push for him to set a new plan into motion.

"_And I heard there was a girl in his group who was supposedly an imported civilian. Oh, I don't know. Maybe his mistress? A lover? Who cares about age these days. Yes, she was Asian. Probably Japanese. Oh, you didn't know? The new Decimo is Japanese. I know, right? Seems they don't care about mixing up the bloodline anymore. Then again, there was always this rumour that Primo fled to the east. Maybe he's some kind of long lost heir? Hah, I know. Too crazy. And there was..."_

It had not been hard to find the girl. Those accursed clams sure were sitting on their laurels, having such lax security as to allow a rather harmless member of their Famiglia to wander off on their own. Then again, you couldn't keep an eye on everyone all the time. They had let her go out alone and he had caught their blunder right on time.

Smirking, he looked over to a corner, where a sole girl , unconscious, tied and gagged, lied on the cold, hard floor. Oh yes, he'd caught their blunder alright. Now all he had to do was wait for-

"Hey! You! Don't just come in here like tha- urg!"

He looked over to the door of his entry hall just in time to see in swing open, letting a powerful gust of wind in. Right in the middle of the doorway stood a lone, small figure, his eyes hidden beneath his unruly bangs.

"Ala Bianca." were the only words spoken, but behind them were a myriad of barely suppressed emotions.

"So you know who we are, do you?" he sneered.

Tsuna gritted his teeth but let himself play along, "I got a tip from a friend of yours."

"Oh? You mean that pathetic Formica you wiped out some months ago. A commendable job, by the way."

His fury was about to explode. "They were your _allies._"

The man snorted, "They were _pawns_, nothing more."

"For what cause?!"

He smiled maliciously, "Revenge. Cold, sweet revenge for my ancestors. But I'll spare you the details. Someone like you couldn't comprehend this anyway. Just know that you need to die."

The brunet just listened in both disbelief and outrage. "And for _that _you had to drag _her_ into this?" he almost yelled, pointing at the prone girl lying in the corner.

"Ah, but Vongola. You forget I needed a bait. Otherwise you wouldn't have come here on our terms. Am I right?"

The boy nearly snarled, but kept himself in check, "She has _nothing_ to do with this!"

"Oh no, on the contrary. She has everything to do with this. After all, she got you here, didn't she?" God, this was so much _fun_. Why hadn't he done this in the first place?

"You... _teme_..."

"Now now, don't go cursing me in a different language, Vongola. It's quite unbecoming of a Don."

This man. He dared- he dared-

**Kill him.**

What?

**Kill him.**

N-no, wait-

**You have to.**

He didn't-

**They already got Kyouko.**

B- but she-

**Now they have Haru.**

He...

**They will hurt her.**

No...

**They will KILL her.**

Not again...

**And it will be your fault.**

Never again.

**Do you want that to happen again?**

**NO.**

And he felt it. All the rage, the hatred, the ravenous hunger for blood. It all came out, flowing agonizingly through his veins like liquid fire and fuelling the flames on his forehead and his fists.

With a battle cry, he let loose of his emotions, let them overcome him, let them seep through, let them _free_ and he felt a surge of power, of some power he had never felt before.

It felt new.

It felt wild.

It felt dark.

It felt cold.

It felt **good**.

And it made him absolutely _unstoppable._

This man, no, this **monster** thought he didn't know what it was like to hate from the bottom of his heart? What it felt like to thirst for vengeance?

Well, then, **think again**.

In one fell swoop, in less than a second, every other man standing in the room was incapacitated. In some cases also dismembered. He didn't know how he had done it – he was fast, but never that fast – but he didn't care.

These people were out to hurt them.

**His precious people.**

And he **could not allow that**.

A neck was crushed under his elbow. Another one snapped with a kick. A heart pierced with his hand. A head smashed on the wall.

They would never hurt them again. **Ever.**

Seemingly from far away, he heard a (female?) voice, but he didn't pay it any mind. "I've found them! They're here! Hurry! He's in trouble!"

No. Right now, all his attention was on a certain Mafia Boss cowering in his pitiful seat of power.

That man was responsible. It was all **his** fault.

And he'd **pay**. Oh, **he'd pay**.

The man screamed. Even as he was assaulted by unimaginable pain, he screamed. Even as the last shine of life left his eyes, he screamed.

And then, it was deathly silent.

"B- Boss."

"Tsu- Tsuna-sa- san..."

He turned to look at the voices that had broken the silence.

Haru was awake. That was great. And Chrome... what was she doing here? She wasn't supposed to be here... she wasn't supposed... to...

_Chrome?_

Why did she look so scared?

"Boss..."

What was it? What was wrong?

"Y-your... your flames..."

His flames? He looked down. His eyes widened, horror written all over his face.

No. That was impossible. It couldn't be! It was- it was- no, no, no-

"B- Boss, you... you're a Sky..."

He was... he... was?

"But... your flames..."

On his right hand, his flames, orange Sky flames, were a reassuring presence.

He looked at the flames dancing and flickering around his left hand.

Why...?

"W- why are they..."

_Why were they _**black**_?_

* * *

AN:

I've been waiting to throw that curve-ball since i first posted this fic. Oh, and 'teme' is a very rude way of saying 'you' in japanese (as far as I know).

Also, if I haven't posted anything by monday, you probably won't see me until the sunday after that.

**Please leave a review on your way out. Thank you~.**


	7. Self-destruction

He took in a deep breath, then let it out.

Although the enormous room they were in was deep underground, the air in here was surprisingly non-stale. It said a lot about the ventilation system.

Slowly, almost as if to stall, the brunet opened his eyes and found himself staring into a pair of obsidian orbs.

"Are you ready?" asked the not-so-small-anymore infant gripping the green handgun securely in his hand.

The boy just stood there, staring, sorting out his thoughts, before he nodded, albeit still slightly reluctant. The smaller of the two nodded back in confirmation and the only sound that could be heard was the clicking of a gun before he pointed it directly at the boy's forehead.

"Here we go." he said, and his words had a sense of finality in them that they had not previously possessed. The brunet almost gulped, but years of conditioning kept him from showing that particular sign of weakness.

"Here we go." he repeated in agreement.

The sound of a gunshot rang through the training room.

For a split second, his eyes glazed over, losing their shine, before they started glowing an unusual shade of orange. A small flame appeared on his forehead even as his expression schooled itself into one of calculating, calm blankness.

Up until now, everything was going well. There were no aberrations or abnormalities.

He looked down at his hands, were a pair of battle gloves enveloped his hands, one of which sported an intricately designed, two-fingered ring connected by a chain. After just a moment's hesitation, he concentrated on them and his inner flames obeyed the command.

His fists ignited in a warm, familiar shade of Sky.

For a moment, he let relief wash through him, lifting a heavy weight off his shoulders.

But through all the warmth, a wisp of cold bled through, and hint of darkness appeared on the core of his flames and suddenly they weren't Sky orange but Night black and they were consuming his whole hand, licking away at his gloves and all the mental wards he had put up were being stripped away like a hurricane was passing by-

Choking on air and fear, he extinguished the flames, all of them. He couldn't do this. He wasn't ready. The Night would consume him if he allowed it to, he _knew_ that.

"Dame-Tsuna!" came the sharp voice of Reborn, snapping him out of the downward spiral that were his thoughts. "Ignite them again. We need to see if something can be done."

Ignite them again? Was he crazy?

No, no, he couldn't do that. He _couldn't_.

Shaking his head in utter refusal, he scrambled to find an excuse, any excuse to get out of here, "I-I don't have enough time for this anyway, Reborn. I should... I should get back to work. Yeah, I'll do that. All those documents are probably piling up on my desk. Better get the work done soon. I'll see you at dinner, Reborn. You probably also have stuff to do." And with that he left the room, the door closing behind him automatically.

Left behind, the hitman could only grit his teeth in frustration.

The Night flames, the representation of one's hatred and vindictiveness, had awakened within Tsuna. That much he could see in the brief moment they'd been ignited. Was he the cause? Had his support of the boy's revenge only made matters worse? Had he doomed his pupil to a lifetime of fear of his own power?

Silent like a wraith, eyes shadowed by his fedora, he also exited the hall, leaving it to veil itself in darkness.

* * *

"_Ah, Tsu-kun! You're back! How was your trip?" said the loving voice of his mother._

_He smiled at her, but it didn't reach his eyes, "Hey mom. Why... why don't we go sit down? There's a lot... we need to talk about."_

_Her demeanour shifted slightly then, her eyes more focused and her jaw set firmly in seriousness. "Of course, Tsu-kun. Let's go to the living room. I still have some tea I could warm up."_

_He frowned at the thought that he was almost being treated as a visitor, "Mom, you don't need-"_

"_I insist, dear. Just let me fix up some cups of tea and I'll be right there with you." she interrupted him, and her eyes suddenly held a shadow of insecurity. He paused at that. Perhaps she wanted to use whatever time she had to prepare herself mentally, since she clearly sensed this would be far more than just some senseless chit-chat._

_Reluctantly, he retreated to the living room and waited. A few minutes later she came in, two steaming cups in hand. Handing him one, she took a seat in front of him and placed her cup on her lap, looking at her son expectantly and far more soberly than he had ever seen her._

_He sighed, and the weight in his heart suddenly became glaringly obvious. Swallowing down his nervousness with a sip of tea, he cleared his throat._

"_Mom,what I wanted to talk about... I mean, I... dad and I..." he sighed, aggravated at his sudden inability to speak, deciding to go for the most important fact first, "Dad and I... we... we've been lying to you."_

_There, he'd said it. He sneaked a glance at the woman, and his eyes widened slightly in disbelief._

_She was smiling at him, seemingly sad, accepting and proud at the same time._

"_I know."_

_And suddenly he felt the guilt he'd been hiding away for years push its way to the forefront of his mind with almost no resistance. How many times had she seen him come home wounded and was flooded with panic and worry? How many times had she plastered a naïve smile on her face and oblivious words on her lips just to make him feel better, to give him a sense of normalcy between the unparalleled chaos that had become of his life? How many times had she stayed up at night to pray for the safe return of the only constant in her life?_

_He took a shuddering breath, "Do you... also know... do you know what we've been doing?"_

_This time, her smile turned resigned, melancholic, "No, I just know you get yourselves into a lot of trouble."_

_He nodded, "Mom, how much do you know about the Mafia."_

_She blinked at that, "Mafia? You mean these organized crime institutions? Like the Yakuza, only in the west."_

_He nodded again, "Yes. You see, dad... he's the head of a particular department of one of the biggest Famiglie in Italy."_

_Her brows creased in worry, "And you?"_

_It felt like someone had stuck a rock in his throat and for a moment, he couldn't speak. "Me... I-I...I'm the heir of that Famiglia."_

_Widened chocolate eyes stared at him as if seeing him for the first time and Tsuna absolutely hated it. "So you... Iemitsu and Tsu-kun... you're..." as she choked up, the last word came out in naught but a whisper, "...criminals?"_

"_No!" he denied before his mind could even catch up with his mouth, "No, I... I promised someone, two people really, that I'd change the Vongola for the best." he looked her directly in the eye, "I want to return it to its roots, a vigilante group meant to protect innocents."_

_She sat there silently, contemplating, and for a moment, he feared that she would turn her back on him, throw him out, reject him. But she didn't. She just looked at him, processing the information he had given her._

_Suddenly, her face broke into a bright grin and her eyes gained an excited glint. If that wasn't enough to put him off, her next words definitely were, "Oh, that's amazing. My Tsu-kun's like the hero of the Mafia!"_

_She giggled as he sputtered. Hero of the Mafia? Dang it, mom! This wasn't some kind of shounen manga!_

_But still... still, he couldn't quell the sudden warmth in his chest nor could he stop the small, embarrassed smile from surfacing on his face._

_Then, she stood up and took him in her arms, ignoring his half-hearted protests, "I'm proud of you, Tsu-kun." she said, and her voice had a soft, loving quality that projected just how many emotions she was feeling, "No matter what you do or where you go, I'll always support you."_

_As if he'd been struck, his legs almost gave in from under him and he returned her embrace to support himself. In that moment, he didn't feel like burdened, sixteen year old Tsuna, he felt like small, vulnerable Tsu-kun._

_As his face was buried in her shoulder, his words came out muffled, but she understood them all the same, and accepted them with a smile._

"_Thank you, mom."_

* * *

As much as he'd been willing it to for the past two hours, the ceiling of his bed simply didn't seem inclined to becoming any more interesting, Sighing, he finally sat up, the rustle of the silky covers easily reaching his ears in the stillness of the night.

Of all the times it could have, that memory chose now to haunt him, when he knew she would be anything but proud.

He chuckled bitterly as he walked out to to balcony overlooking the rose garden. Feeling a small, cold pressure on his chest, he dug his hand into his shirt and pulled out the small glass container he'd taken to constantly carry around.

It was his reminder that he'd failed once, that he couldn't fail again.

But hadn't he almost lost Haru just a few hours ago? Hadn't he almost failed again?

This time, the self deprecating smile was accompanied by a trail of salty tears. "I'm sorry, mom... but Reborn was right. I should stop trying to be a hero." And as he glanced at the waning moon, he could clearly feel the giant black hole in his heart. "Because there are not heroes in this world of darkness."

"There's only villains."

* * *

Physical labour, Tsuna found out, was wonderfully distracting, as it required all of his focus if he wanted to remain unscathed.

Duck to the left. Right hook. Kick to the sternum. Follow-up kick to the head. Use momentum to catch him off balance. Use flames for extra speed when delivering a-

NO.

No flames. He didn't need fames right now. This was a simple spar, no need for flames.

Unfortunately, the sudden derailing of his train of thought caused him to pause momentarily, giving his opponent more than big enough a window to punch him in the face. Hard.

He was sent sprawling across the room until his back impacted with the cold, hard wall.

"Is something the matter, Juudaime-sama? You usually never space out during a spar." said a deep, authoritative voice in distinct japanese.

Tsuna groaned as he stood up, feeling in back crack in protest. He turned to look at the elder, grey haired man. "No, I'm okay. And please call me Tsuna or at least Tsunayoshi, Hideki-san. We've been doing this for so long that formalities are superfluous."

The man smiled in a way that vaguely reminded him of grandpa, "As you wish, Tsunayoshi-sama."

Tsuna just rolled his eyes as he stood up. He was perfectly aware that the man would be calling Juudaime-sama again by the next day. It was somewhat unnerving, but having had Gokudera-kun at his side for three years helped.

Hideki Noboru was actually the head butler of the Vongola mansion, who occasionally stepped in as a martial arts instructor when needed, which had been the case ever since the tenth generation had moved in. As a former member of the Japanese secret service who had gotten too tangled up in the Mafia as a spy and had had the fortune of meeting Nono when things had gotten heated, he was quite proficient in a few types of martial arts, as well as some other skills that he chose not to elaborate on.

He owed Vongola his life and chose to pay it off with his services. Thus, Tsuna had taken up sparring sessions with the man.

"Again."

The man's brow creased with worry, "Are you sure Tsunayoshi-sama? You look a little worse for wear."

"I'm okay." he repeated and immediately moved into an offensive kata, taking Hideki off guard. The man blocked the surprisingly fierce punch out of instinct, then shifted his body appropriately for a counter attack.

Once again, their deadly dance began, taking all of their concentration. For Tsuna there was just him and his opponent, nothing else. He launched attack after attack relentlessly, constantly switching between offence and defence. He didn't know for how long they'd been at it, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins stopped him from feeling the aching of his limbs so he didn't care.

Just as he ducked under a high jab and entered the man's guard at impossible speeds, the world suddenly went black and a sharp pain made itself known in his chest, pulsing in an agonizing rhythm. For a moment, a split second, Tsuna only knew agony, horrible pain, and a darkness that somehow seemed blood red, freezing his insides and sharpening the pain.

Then, as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone and he found himself disoriented yet scrambling to get away from _something_ quickly approaching him due to his Hyper Intuition. He didn't make it in time, though, and a knee connected solidly with his stomach, making bile rise up his throat.

He fell to the ground, gagging and holding his stomach in pain. A grunt escaped him as he managed to suppress the urge to vomit.

"Tsunayoshi-sama, I think I will cut this spar short. You are clearly feeling unwell." said the butler, concern lacing his words.

No. He couldn't do that, he couldn't stop now. He needed a distraction. He needed- he needed-

"N-no... w-wait..."

"No, you are in no condition to be sparring. I'll bring you to your chambers so you can get some rest." his firm voice left no room for arguments and Tsuna found himself being half dragged to his room since his legs suddenly felt like jelly. Suffering jelly.

It seemed he'd need to find something else. Training himself to the bone didn't last long enough.

* * *

Walking at a brisk pace through the expensively decorated halls of the mansion that had not long ago become his home, Hayato tried to calm himself by mentally playing a piece that his mother had taught him.

It wasn't working.

Some minutes ago, he'd run into the head butler. Surprised, as the man usually was in one of the training rooms with Juudaime at this time of the day, he'd asked if something was wrong. In response, the man had told him that his Boss – _friend – _wasn't feeling well and that he'd dropped him off at his room so he could rest.

How could he calm down knowing that?

Finally reaching the door of the Head of the Famiglia's chambers, he knocked on it with no small amount of trepidation.

There was no answer.

Hayato frowned and knocked again. Still no answer. Now inwardly panicking, he called out. No reply came from the other side.

He did the only thing he could think of in this situation: he kicked the door open. Only, the door kicked his foot back. In his panic he'd forgotten that these doors were made of a very hard and heavy wood and the lock of reinforced steel coated in gold.

He grabbed his foot and cursed in every language he knew, which was an impressive number, as he finally remembered the spare key he'd been given as the Boss' right hand man to enter the room in case of an emergency.

Well, this was more than enough of an emergency in his book. Quickly fishing out the key which dangled from a thin but strong chain hidden underneath his shirt, he inserted it into the keyhole, turning it hastily.

The door swung open, giving him a full view of the admittedly huge room. It was empty.

Yet again, panic gripped his heart as he looked around, desperately searching for a hint, _any_ hint, of the brunette's presence.

"Juudaime! Juudaime, are you here?" he called in the vague hope that he'd get a response.

And a response he got, directly from the bathroom door, "G-gokudera-kun? What are you doing here?"

So elated he was to have found his Boss that he never noticed the panicked, almost hysterical note in his voice. "Ah, I was looking for you, Juudaime. I was told you weren't feeling well so I wanted to check on you." He said as he walked towards the bathroom door, one arm raised to open it.

"W-wait, Gokudera-kun. Don- don't come in-" but it was too late as the silver haired teen pushed the door open with a relieved smile on his face – and stopped in his tracks.

Red.

Blood.

Juudaime was standing in front of the sink, with one hand raised as if to cover his mouth.

There was blood on the sink.

And sprayed all across his palm.

Specks of the same red substance freckled his lips and dribbled down his chin.

"Gokudera-kun, I'm alright. This isn't wh-" but he was interrupted by a violent coughing fit and Hayato watched in horror as more of that precious blood escaped his now unnaturally pale lips.

Making his decision half subconsciously, he gripped the other teen's wrist with more force than he would have used had he been more lucid and dragged him out of the bathroom and the bedroom.

"Wait, Goku-" he winced as he heard another coughing fit behind him, but his steps didn't falter, "What- Where?"

"We're going to the hospital wing."

At that, he started offering resistance, "No, wait. I told you I'm fine-"

The Storm then rounded on him, looking every bit his role with that scowl on his face and the determined glint in his eyes. "You were coughing up _blood_, Juudaime. That is definitively NOT _fine_. We're going to the hospital wing." he put every ounce of authority he possessed in his voice and the brunet, unused to such a tone directed at him, unconsciously relented.

Finally finding the door to that particularly well used section of the mansion, he forcefully opened it.

"I need a doctor and I need him now!"

* * *

By the time the different doctors and scientists of Vongola HQ had started discussing the results of the various test he'd been put through, every other Guardian (even the more reclusive ones) and his tutor had somehow been informed and had found their way to his bedside.

That is, with the exception of Gokudera-kun, who was sitting in the corner of the room glaring darkly at the air before him.

"Are you really okay, Tsuna?" asked his Rain, and Tsuna chose to ignore the Storm's moods in favour of smiling at him reassuringly.

"Of course, Yamamoto. It was just an attack. I'm sure I'll be good as new by tomorrow."

Yamamoto didn't look entirely convinced, but at least he wasn't freaking out anymore.

"I'm sorry to inform you, Decimo, but that won't be the case." Almost as one, everyone in the room turned to look at the doorway, where a middle aged and clearly distressed man stood holding a stack of paper in one hand and running the other through his hair.

"What d-do you mean?" asked Chrome, her voice wavering with insecurity.

The man sighed, "Please hear me out to the end." When he was sure he'd gotten everyone's attention, he continued. "It was previously believed that the Night flame, being the only Sky type flame that could be used by anyone, was also compatible with every other flame. It's hard to say due to lack of previously recorded cases, but it seems that this isn't the case. Since Sky flames are so rare and Night flames even more so, there was no way to test this until now. Apparently, from what the tests say, the harmony attribute of the Sky clashes quite violently with the bitterness and hatred of the Night."

"But what does that mean for him?" asked Mukuro, apparently nonchalant, but the hard edge in his tone gave him away.

The doctor glared at him momentarily before sighing and clearing his throat, "I was getting there. Since the two flames clash so much, they end up... battling, in a sense, for dominance in the user's body, which can cause a lot of damage to it. From here on out there are two possibilities: either the Night overpowers the Sky through its higher energy output, completely extinguishing it and starting a chain reaction of both mental and physical transformations, or..."

"Or...?" Onii-san urged him on nervously.

"Or..." he sighed tiredly yet again, "if the own flames are way above average, the two end up in a stalemate and keep fighting for dominance until... until the user's body collapses and self-destructs."

For a moment, there was complete silence.

Then, "...what?" came the whisper of a dazed Tsuna, "Wha... I don't..."

Reborn growled, "Dame-Tsuna, don't you get it?" at his student's uncomprehending, distant look he bit out harshly and in mild hysteria, "You could turn into a Vindice but your flames are too strong for that, so that only leaves the other option."

And as Reborn struggled to get the last words out, realization struck him like a hammer to the head.

"You're dying."

* * *

AN:

you guys better be grateful for this chappie.I skipped biology just to finish this thing (not that we were actually going to do anything in bio). so, how's the angst? ;) also, do hope that I get something out before thursday. I'll be spending the weekend at an anime con.

I hoped you enjoyed this!

Edit: **IMPORTANT! **It has been brought to my attention by a wonderful reviewer that I have completely forgone mentioning why there isn't a third possibility in the Sky/Night struggle. A Night flame in and of itself has a much larger energy output than any other flame, including the Sky. That's why, even if there was the same amount of Night and Sky, the Night would definitely overwhelm and smother the other flame. That's why one would need a fLame of far above average strength just to keep up with it. The sheer magnitude of the Sky flames one would need in order to overwhelm the Night instead are mind-boggling and almost unrealistic. Almost because the ultimate Dying Will flame probably has that potential, but he can't keep constantly using it for days on end until the struggle has been won. That would be ridiculously taxing on the body, if it doesn't kill him outright in the Night's stead.

**Please leave a review on your way out. Thank you~.**


	8. Untainted

The only sound that filled the magnificent office of the Vongola Don was the scratching of pen on paper and the occasional shifting of documents on his desk. Although, sometimes a muffled, but nevertheless violent cough would break down the precariously built silence in the room and its only occupant would have to rebuild it again through seeming eternities of the mind-numbing fulfilment of his task.

Feeling another fit coming, the sickly teenage boy lunged for the red, stained handkerchief on his desk, beside a stack of paper, and covered his mouth with it, successfully hindering any blood from flying any farther than his lips.

It had been a week since his diagnostic, but still Tsuna refused to stop working and hand the workload to someone else. He had a responsibility to keep, even if he was, well, fatally ill in a way.

Just as he was about to pick up his pen for the nth time that afternoon, the door swung open, a small breeze entering the office and almost displacing some of the documents on his desk. Fortunately, they stayed still.

The young Don lifted his tired, dull brown gaze to meet another, this one steely grey and narrowed.

"Can I help you, Hibari-san?" he asked, half hoping that the older teen would just turn around and leave without saying a word as he was so prone to. Sadly, it seemed that fate hadn't been on his side for more than a week and was planning to stay that way.

Hibari's eyes narrowed further and a low, threatening growl escaped his throat. Unexpectedly, and successfully stopping any one sentence from forming in his mouth, Tsuna just shoved a stack of documents and a manila folder in front of his face. Once the black haired fighter practically ripped the files out of his hands in ire, he continued with his paperwork, not lifting his gaze again.

"Omnivore-"

"I need those signed." he said monotonously, still not looking up.

The other stared at him in mild disbelief and outrage, "What."

"Those are the blueprints for the Foundation base in Namimori. They need your approval and your signature before anything can truly begin. Mine is already on it. Once you're done, just give them to the secretary. She'll know what to do." was his reply.

There was a moment of shocked, tense silence in which Hibari briefly considered ripping the paper to shreds, throwing them at the floor and stomping on them until they were no longer recognizable as paper, all in a fit of rage. Instead, he chose to release ungodly amounts of killing intent.

Tsuna didn't heed his Guardian's dark aura and simply kept signing the documents.

Finally, after taking a moment to rein in his bloodlust and calm himself down, he spoke again, "Omnivore..."

But yet again, he was interrupted, "If you could, please have it done by tomorrow. The building company gave us a deadline-"

"I don't care, Tsunayoshi!" he finally burst out, "You shouldn't be here doing all this. You should be lying in bed, resting!" by now he was breathing heavily, but still his accusing glare did not relent.

The younger of the two just sat there, stunned into silence until he found his voice again, though only as a whisper. "I can't- I can't just leave-" a coughing fit he was unprepared for interrupted him and he scrambled for his handkerchief, wiping the red substance off of his hand once it was over.

His Cloud just gritted his teeth in frustration and let out another growl before he turned on his heel and started walking towards the door, crumpled files in hand. At the doorway, though, he stopped, holding on to the polished wood with a white-knuckled grip.

"Hibari-san...?" Tsuna asked with some nervousness.

"Kyouya." was his reply.

"Huh?"

The previously enraged Guardian now looked more resigned than anything as he turned his head slightly to look him, "Call me Kyouya." he said and then muttered under his breath, "For as long as you still can." But the words were still heard in the quietness of the office.

Once again shocked into silence, Tsuna almost missed his chance as his Cloud walked out the door. "Hiba- K-kyouya-san!"

The former prefect stopped but said nothing, simply acknowledging the call. Tsuna looked down, feeling tears prickling at the corners of his eyes and said in a low, almost undetectable whisper, "Thanks."

Kyouya stayed still for a moment, then nodded near imperceptibly and left the room.

Blinking away the tears, he then turned a contemplative look at a particular file sitting alone on a corner of his desk. No, he wouldn't give her that now. Later perhaps, they would find it when he- when he-

But not now.

* * *

Two people sat in the cozy living room illuminated solely by the cheery fire crackling away in the borderline monolithic fireplace. Sitting across each other with only a coffee table between them, they let the silence stretch out to an unbearable length. After what seemed like an eternity and a half for both of them, the silence was finally broken.

"B-boss, are you feeling alright? Are the medications working properly?" asked the girl.

The boy offered her a smile, but the effect was slightly dampened by his sickly complexion and the outright exhaustion reflected in his eyes. "I'm fine Chrome. You don't have to worry about me."

She frowned, concern lining her face, and in his tired, not quite there state of mind, he found the expression somehow endearing.

"You don't look fine. The doctors said you aren't fine. That you're- you're- I have a right to be worried, Boss."

It was his turn to frown, a certain memory choosing that moment to invade his conscious mind, and he couldn't help but mutter something before he realized what he was saying, "Sure didn't look like that to me back then..."

Unfortunately for him, as an illusionist she had very sharp senses. Her brow creased further. "What do you mean?"

Caught off guard, he tried to do damage control, "No, I didn't- what I meant-"

"What did you mean?" she repeated, this time with conviction, and he could only sigh.

"At the Ala B-bianca base," he almost choked on the name, "When you found me... the way you were looking at me... as if I could attack you at any given moment..."

"No!" she denied vehemently, "That's not what it was! Not at all!"

He stared at her for a second, "Then what?"

She gulped and tried to collect her thoughts, "Boss, I... when I saw those flames, the _Night_ flames... I wasn't afraid of you." she declared resolutely.

Enraptured by her words, he silently urged her on.

"When I saw those black flames, I was worried, afraid _for_ you. I remember Bermuda. Remember how torn and hurt and bitter he was. I could only imagine what you were feeling, what you were going through to have summoned those flames. I-I felt horrified, helpless, because... because you looked so... so _lonely_ in that moment," She looked him in the eye, "You still do."

He quickly averted his eyes, guilt and shame gnawing at his heart, and his voice was barely above a whisper, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"It's okay. I probably looked haunted for you to have thought that. Ken always says I look like that if I don't smile." and she offered him a small, somewhat sheepish smile.

"I'm still sorry."

"Don't apologize, Boss. Everyone makes mistakes."

He looked at her.

Yeah, he just made a lot more than he should.

Then, the smile cracked and a small tear slid down her cheek, which she hurriedly wiped away. His eyes widened, then softened, "Chrome..."

"S-sorry, Boss. I just- It's just..." her voice wavered and she looked down at her lap, "...seeing you here like this, so weakened... I just can't help but think of the future... you'll be- you- you'll be gone and..." her frame started trembling and she released a soft sob, "...please... don't go..."

It felt like someone had stabbed a pole through his heart and _twisted_, seeing her like this, and he could only reach across the table and gingerly embrace her, whispering words of consolation that he couldn't bring himself to believe. All the while he wondered if his other Guardians – his friends – were going through something similar. The thought saddened him.

After a while, he noticed that the sobs had subsided and her breathing was back to a calm, soft rhythm. She had cried herself to sleep.

Just as he was about to lift her up to take her to her room, a new figure appeared before him.

"I'll take her off your arms." he said solemnly.

"Mukuro... thanks." he nodded tiredly.

Once he had lifted her into his arms and shifted her into a more comfortable position, he made to walk away, but stayed instead, staring directly into the eyes of his Sky.

"... the first time we met, I tried to posses you, then to kill you. You shipped me off to Vendicare. I never really wanted anything to do with this world, but ended up following her here anyway..."

Tsuna waited, amber staring into ruby and sapphire.

"I don't know you enough to be able to mourn you." he stated and his gaze intensified, "Then why..." after a moment longer of staring, he averted his gaze and chuckled bitterly, "You are so full of contradictions, Tsunayoshi."

And with that he disappeared, leaving Tsuna alone with the crackling fire.

* * *

Deep, very deep inside the garden labyrinth stood a small, old gazebo that had been unused for decades. That is, until one cloudy afternoon, a certain individual lost his way and found the unused, unkempt gazebo by pure chance. Having seen the relative solitude of the place and the stillness of its surroundings, that person turned it into a small, simple memorial: a photo of a grinning, auburn haired girl and a vase of sunflowers beside it.

Ever since then, both Ryohei and Tsuna had taken it upon themselves to change the flowers at least weekly. But it wasn't Ryohei who he found this time after wandering through the labyrinth with a fresh batch of sunflowers in his hands, nor was the place empty.

There, kneeling in front of the well kept photo, was Haru.

As quietly as he could so as not to disturb her, he walked up to her and lowered himself beside her, reaching out towards the vase. Once he'd exchanged one batch of flowers of the other, he gently placed the vase back into its spot beside the photograph. The pair then sat in silence for a while.

"You told me about the flames once." she suddenly said, still looking forward, "Reborn-kun told me about those black flames." then, her head lowered with her voice, "Since when... since when have you been harbouring those feelings? Is it... because of Kyouko?"

He looked at her for a moment before turning back to the photo. "Yes." Another coughing fit then racked his body and he wiped the blood from his hand with the handkerchief he'd started carrying around constantly.

Her eyes trailed his hand, then the stained piece of cloth and finally came to rest at the flowers. She clenched her fists, "She would have never wanted this. She would have never wanted to see you like this."

"She was too kind." he agreed.

"So were you."

"I wasn-"

"You were! You were so kind. Even after that night, you were still so kind... you always used to forgive everyone, always looking for a way to solve things without bloodshed." And she knew. She'd been told of all the adventures and misfortunes Tsuna and his Guardians had gone through. "But in the end, you were always forced to fight." she took a steadying breath, "Why... can't you let go this time?"

A small frown creased his brow, "...the wounds run too deep, Haru. I can't just forgive and forget."

"You..."

"I loved her." he started again, "I never got to tell her that. I couldn't protect her..."

The girl paused for a moment before her gaze softened, "And I loved you. But the heart changes constantly, Tsuna-san." she said gently, "So, even when facing death... why can't you just let those horrible feelings go?"

His face contorted slightly, as if in pain, "...I... couldn't save her. Couldn't save one person... the one I loved." he lifted his hand and stared at it, "They're terrifying – dark and cold. But... these feelings, these flames, they hold power."

"They're _killing_ you!" she cried, horrified.

His gaze darkened, "Then maybe I simply deserve to die."

_SLAP._

Tsuna suddenly found himself looking to the side, one hand raised to gingerly touch his red, stinging cheek. Turning his head to look back in front him, he saw Haru there, right arm still raised from the blow while tears streamed down her anguished face.

"Have you any idea..." she started with a trembling voice, "...what you just said?"

He could just stare numbly at her, mind utterly blank.

Her arm fell to her side and she suppressed a sob, "How could you say something like that! What about those you'd be leaving behind? Don't you care about _us_? What do you think we would do without you?!"

The brunet flinched, "No, I-"

"She's right, you know."

He swivelled around. There, standing right behind him (and how had not sensed them before?) stood the people he had gotten to know and care for like family.

"Everyone..."

But Haru's voice brought his attention back to her, "Why is it so hard to forgive now, when it used to come to you like breathing before?"

"Because..." Because... what? What was the reason? Why couldn't he let go? Was his heart really that broken?

No. That wasn't true.

It wasn't like him. His nature was accepting, all-encompassing. He was a Sky.

The truth was, from the moment he had spared the Formica, from the moment he had almost completely forgotten about his revenge, about Ala Bianca, he had already forgiven them.

The thirst for vengeance he had tried to satiate with the Ala Bianca had only left him more hollow.

He couldn't blame anybody. He didn't know who to push it unto.

And the only one he couldn't forgive – was himself.

All that hatred and bitterness towards the world because of her death, his failure, it had never had a way out. And when the Night flames had appeared, he had almost taken the torture they came with as a form of atonement.

His thoughts, however, were interrupted by a soft voice, "You were with her that night. Knowing her, I can already imagine them. But tell me, Tsuna-san," their gazes locked, "what were her last words?"

He choked up. Her last words? "To..."

"_I don't... blame you... I- I actually wan... wanted to thank you... for sharing so... so much with me. So don't... don't let me stop you... your life... live it with... without regrets."_

His eyes widened a fraction, "To live... without regrets..."

And the almost tragic smile he got in return made him want to cry.

He'd had it wrong.

He'd had it all wrong.

How could he simply forget something so important?

How could he be so _stupid_?

Kyouko-chan... she...

"See? She didn't want any of this. She didn't want to be avenged. She wanted you to _live_, not to blame anyone... or yourself."

_Live without regrets._

He looked around once again, taking in each and every face in the group, all of different sizes and ages, all with dark bags under their glistening eyes. It wasn't only his Guardians present. Even Fuuta and I-pin stood to one side and Bianchi was standing beside her brother while Reborn perched on her shoulder. Haru had unconsciously moved towards the group too.

This wasn't just any group of people.

This was his _family_.

The family he'd been about to leave because he couldn't simply let go of some petty emotions born from a fate long past.

No, he was not going to die a sinner, nor would he die without fulfilling the oaths he had made. And no self-righteous sense of justice that had devolved into depravity and darkness would stop him.

He would live for his family, even if he had to challenge the devil himself for his soul to do it.

Through his teary gaze, he saw their expressions suddenly change to astonishment and then happiness, as a single tiny, flickering Sky flame appeared on his forehead like a sign of his resolution.

Completely untainted.

And, even though he could _feel_ the minuscule, almost nonexistent spark of black he knew would stay with him forever, he shared their tears of joy as most of them practically threw themselves at him, catching him in a tangle of limbs and incomparable warmth.

Hours later, in the hospital wing, an unconscious Tsuna was diagnosed with enormous, but curable damage to many internal organs, mostly his lungs, near-fatal exhaustion – and completely stable flames.

In his dreams, he could have sworn he had heard a familiar, cheery voice say something about fire eventually going out without fuel.

* * *

AN: phew, this was the last chapter of the first arc.

It' too short and I keep getting the feeling that it makes no sense or that it's superficial. I've been trying to properly formulate the last scene for two weeks, but it still feels weird. And it's the most important scene in the whole arc too! -sigh- I decided to just leave it like this since there really isn't anything I can do about it.

So for all of those disappointed -bow- I'm really, really sorry!

Anyway, the second scene was dedicated to my dear friend detramental. Hope that makes you happy.

Also, I'm taking a little break before I start the next chapter. The next few chappies won't be directly tied to any arc and will be a tad more lighthearted and just a bit filler-ish before we plunge back into the drama.

Really hoping you enjoyed the chapter here.

**Please leave a review on your way out. Thank you~.**


	9. Colours of the Sky

The scratching of pen on paper was the sole predominant sound in the Vongola Don's office, accompanied by the occasional sigh from said painkiller-pumped Don, in the hopes that his slight, hangover induced headache would go away. He mentally cursed the _certain someone_ (coughmukurocough) who had oh so cleverly decided to spike the drinks of his small, private get-well party last night.

Just as he started on a new document, the door opened, a familiar girl stepping in. "Timoteo-san, here are the documents you reques- Hahi? Tsuna-san? What are you doing here? You should be resting!"

He had the grace to look sheepish, "Haru? Ah, sorry, I just really have to take care of this, so-"

"I don't want to hear it. You just escaped what could be classified as a lethal disease. You shouldn't strain yourself like this!"

"But you see, this really is important and I'd rather get it done quickly."

She glared at him, disgruntled, "What could be so important that you would risk your health to get it done asap?"

At that exact moment, their ears caught an indistinct sound that seemed to be getting louder by the second. Only after a moment of concentration did she recognize it as a yell.

"Tuuuuuuuuuuunaaaaaaaaa fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!"

Tsuna sighed and massaged his temples before looking back at her, "That." was his answer.

Not a second later, a tall, blond man trampled into his office, stupid grin and all. "Tuna fish! You summoned me? Could it be you're finally ready to receive my fatherly love?"

"When pigs start flying." he deadpanned.

The man seemingly deflated, but then pulled himself together. "Oh, is it a mission then? Do you need the CEDEF for something? Or do you need advice from your father?"

"It's about this." he unceremoniously shoved a stack of papers into the man's face. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

The blonde grabbed the documents before they asphyxiated him and stared for a while. Then he looked back up to meet his son's eyes, all cheer gone from his demeanour. "What is this?" he asked faintly.

"Your retirement documents." The brunet answered without missing a beat.

"..."

"..."

"What."

"You heard me."

"You're firing me?"

"I'm dismissing you. Your services are no longer required, Young Lion of the Vongola." For the first time in what felt like ages, his voice was cold and steely, allowing no arguments. Still, the other persisted.

"You- you can't do that!"

"Oh, but I can. And I will, as you have seen."

He looked enraged now. "The Famiglia needs me!"

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped as a glowing, orange glare that was somehow both blazing like a raging fire and icy like a cold, hard crystal was directed at him. His back unconsciously straightened as the most primal part of his being recognized the boy, no, man before as a predator and himself as prey.

A heavy, authoritative voice cut through the tense silence in the room like a blade and with a start, Iemitsu realized it was his son's.

"No. Your _family_ needs you." The glare intensified for a moment before the tension suddenly dropped, as if it had never been there in the first place. "Spend some time with your wife, will you?"

The elder of the two stared at him completely gobsmacked before lowering his head in shame. "I guess the Young Lion isn't so young anymore." he chuckled bitterly. "But who will lead CEDEF then? I do have an heir, but he's not ready yet-"

"Lal Mirch will be the temporary head of CEDEF until Basil has enough experience and is considered ready. It won't be very long since his training with you is already finished."

Surprise didn't even begin to describe his current expression. "And they already know of this?"

"Lal does."

"And she's _okay with this_?"

Tsuna allowed himself a small smirk, "I can be very convincing at times."

Iemitsu stared for a little longer before sighing. "So... this is it for me?"

A snort, "Don't speak as if you're about to die. It's just retirement."

"But Tuna fish!" he cried out while impossibly large tears trailed down his face, "That means I'm _old_."

For a moment, Tsuna's face was stuck in many different emotions until it finally settled with exasperation. He rolled his eyes, "Just go home, dad."

The man adopted an exaggeratedly stricken look before fleeing the office in all his idiotic glory, all the while yelling out something about the betrayal of his own kin. Oh well, at least that was over with.

"Ahem."

"Hie!" he almost jumped out of his seat, startled. His eyes finally found the source of the sound he had most definitely not expected.

It was Haru.

Oh.

He'd totally forgotten she was still there. He scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously. Then a thought struck him, "Ne, Haru. Why were you bringing those documents to the office?"

She seemed surprised by the question. "Oh! Timoteo-san offered to do your work for the time you're recuperating. I thought I'd make myself useful so I'm now apprenticing under the secretary, who will be retiring soon."

He blinked. "Oh."

"Moreover, Tsuna-san, shouldn't you be somewhere else right now? As in, not your office?"

He laughed nervously when she started giving off an intimidating aura. "Ah, well, you see..."

"Seriously." she sighed, then perked up all of sudden, "Oh! I forgot! They came this morning. Tsuna-san, could you wait here for a moment?"

Flabbergasted at her sudden mood swing, he could only nod. With a spring in her step, she left the documents on his desk and exited the office. The brunet decided to get some more work done in the meantime. A certain sheet of paper on a corner of his desk caught his eye. He lifted it and read the page for what felt like the hundredth time. He'd thought he wouldn't be giving her this personally, since just a few days ago, his death had been a near certainty. Sighing, he folded the document and stored it inside his pocket, deciding to give it to her the moment he saw her.

Two sets of footsteps brought him out of his musings. He looked up to take in the two girls standing in his doorway.

"Hello, Boss."

"Chrome?" he looked back at Haru, confusion clear on his face.

She just smiled at him and under some unnoticeable signal both girls held out their hands, a stack of black, thin boxes in each pair of hands. This only served to confuse him more. "What is this?"

Grinning all the way, the cheery one of the two set her stack on the desk before opening the box on top. Peeking in, his eyes widened at the sight. The flat, black box held inside a cushion of the same colour that was not unlike those in a jewelry shop. Set into small dents in said cushion were numerous thin, silver rings, each sporting a small yet incredibly bright stone the colour of his Sky flames.

"And that's not all! There's an inscription on the other side." She pulled out a ring from the middle and turned it around for him to see. And indeed, on the side of the silver circlet where there was no stone, a small inscription had been engraved in a flowing font. It read: _Del Cielo_.

_Of the Sky._

He looked up to meet her eyes, then Chrome's. "Why?"

The Mist's gentle voice answered in her friend's stead, "For your Family. As a method of recognition. We thought you'd like to give each member of your Family something. We had them custom made so they're susceptible enough to flames to cause enough of a reaction so they shrink down to the size needed, but they're not battle rings so they won't take more flames than necessary, meaning they won't break from overexertion even if that person is using a great amount of flames.

"They can also slightly read emotions through the flames and detect if that person is in any danger, in which case they'll alert the main ring." She brought out a smaller box and opened it, revealing exactly the same ring as all the other ones in the bigger box. However, further inspection would have shown the inscription on the back to be the kanji for _Sora_ instead. "This is yours."

For what seemed like an eternity, all Tsuna could do was stare as his mind tried to process all the information it had just been given.

"...How?"

At this, Haru laughed sheepishly. "Ahaha, you see, I sort of slipped in the sheet for approval while you were in this weird trance of numbness you tend to enter when you overwork yourself. It was signed by the end of the day and we were able to use the money from Vongola's main account on this."

He blinked, then nodded. When he was like that, he tended to only pay attention to the fundamentals of any document he signed. He had probably mistaken this one with a request for the production of battle rings in preparation for the ever approaching era of rings and boxes. He started chuckling when he realized that he'd been completely played.

"I guess I should pay more attention when I sign this stuff."

"That you should." said Haru in mocking admonishment while Chrome just smiled in reply.

"But this is..." It took a moment to find the right word, "...wow." Gaze switching between the rings and the girls, he gave them the brightest smile he could muster. "Thank you. You two are amazing!"

They both blushed slightly at the utter brightness of that smile and Haru sputtered, "It- that's okay. Chrome di-did most of the work anyways. I just- just came up w-with the idea."

He chuckled, "No matter. It's still a wonderful get well gift. I'll be sure to spread these to my Family."

"I'm- we're glad you like it, Boss"

"I do."

Her gaze then wandered towards the grandfather clock standing off to the side and her eyes widened. "Oh, no! I was supposed to meet Croquant-san five minutes ago!I- I'm sorry Boss, but I really need to go." With that, she bowed quickly and left the other two.

Tsuna stared after her. Something was nagging at his mind, something important. Then it hit him. "Damn."

Haru almost jumped, startled, "Hahi! What is it, Tsuna-san?"

"I forgot to give it to her!" he cried, taking the folded document out of his pocket.

* * *

"Three hit combo! Yeah!"

"Oh, you are _so_ gonna lose!"

"My sweet ass special ability begs to differ."

"I'll unleash my special move! How about now?"

"Hey! That was a total cheat!"

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was!"

"You can't prove it."

"Damn! No matter. I'll get my revenge with the next move."

"What the hell? How come your character is so overpowered?"

"Hehe, you're going _down_."

"Tch, not if I can help it!"

"Die! Die, die, die, die!"

"That's not very nice. Here I come."

"Wait, no, wait, wait, what, no!"

"Hah! I win!"

"Gah! No fair!"

The two boys looked at each other, one beaming, the other glaring, until they simultaneously erupted into laughter.

"Pfft, you... actually shouted... _special move_...! Oh god, I can't..." The brunet gasped for breath while he juggled laughing and making fun of his friend.

Meanwhile, the taller of the two was in a similar situation. "Haha... and you... wouldn't stop yelling... _die!_ Pfff... hilarious."

After a while, the both of them managed to calm down enough to hold a proper conversation. "Hah~ It's been a while. I feel like a kid all over again." Tsuna sighed as he propped himself on his arms, a small laugh escaping him.

"I know. With all that's been going on, it's hard to find time for something like this. But you definitely needed it, you workaholic." Takeshi set the controller down in order to massage his hand.

"Hey, I'm no workaholic. I just have a healthy fear of Reborn."

He snorted, "That too."

"Ne, Yamamoto."

"Hm?"

"Why were we playing video games, again?"

The swordsman chuckled, "_Because_, you overworked, undead Don, we're teenagers, and that's what teenagers do."

"I'm sixteen."

"You're just proving my point."

"I'm a Mafia Boss. Mafia Bosses don't play video games."

He blinked at that, "What about Naito?"

Tsuna chuckled, "Naito is... special."

"In what way?"

"In a special kind of way."

Takeshi laughed, "You're not making sense, Tsuna. Think those Night Flames affected your brain too?"

"Oh, shut up." He swatted the other's arm, which just served to make him laugh harder. The Sky smiled amusedly and then sighed, leaning on the sofa they were currently occupying. "But... this is nice. Ever... ever since _that night_... I haven't been able to do anything like this... you guys either since you followed me and all..."

"Aw, come one, Tsuna. Don't tell me you're starting to regret."

"I'm not!" he defended, "It's just..."

Takeshi's eyes softened. "Tsuna, coming with you was our own choice. Sure, it might not be fun all the time and we've got a lot of responsibility on our shoulders, but we have each other for support and it's the life we chose. We're going through this with you whether you like it or not. You can bet on it."

Tsuna stared wide eyed before his face broke into a grin, "I know." He tilted his head backwards to look at the ceiling, smile still in place. "Thank you."

His Rain simply offered his trademark grin of ultimate cheer. "So, how about another round?"

"You bet!"

* * *

"You have never had tea the western way before, right?"

"Hn."

The ex-prefect and his Boss (though he would never admit it out loud) sat in a large lounge room mostly occupied by groupings of comfy sofas and heavy centre coffee tables.

Kyouya, for his part, had invited the brunet to a cup of tea simply to keep him from running around too much. He was still recuperating, thus having more free time than normal. A sixteen year old boy recuperating from an almost fatal ailment with too much free time was something that should be avoided at all costs, or at least that was his opinion on the matter. Therefore, tea.

Still, having grown up in a traditional Japanese household, tea for him meant a some green tea in bamboo cups from a low table accompanied by small cushions on a tatami floor. But, of course, just like the food, the cutlery and the absolutely abhorrent architecture, the act of drinking tea in Italy was also completely different from what he had been taught throughout his childhood.

First of all, Italians seemed to prefer coffee, making a nice blend of tea harder to find. Another thing would be the dishes: these ridiculously delicate, see-through cups and the rest of the unnecessarily adorned set.

Not to mention, getting a cup of green tea of actual quality seemed to be near impossible. Thus, black tea.

A soft voice brought him out of his musings and made him realize that he'd been staring at the empty cup for a while now, "It's a bit different to what we're used to from Japan, but I think I like it."

He looked up to meet bright, chocolate brown eyes, so unlike those deadened, tired eyes he had met in that office just days before, "I prefer the eastern way."

"Of course you would."

"Is that supposed to imply anything?"

"Oh, no. Not at all! It's just... you've always seemed like a traditionalist. Just like how you only approved of the designs for the Foundation base when most of it was to look like a traditional Japanese house. You know, sliding doors, rice paper walls and all that."

The skylark looked at him for a while, as if evaluating him, before pouring himself some more tea, "I may be one. I was brought up that way."

"Hm, really?"

He managed to deign that question with a nod.

"Kyouya-san, you want to go back to Namimori as soon as possible, right?"

Once again, he met his eyes, "Of course."

The Sky smiled, "We'll go back soon, once the construction is well underway."

Staring for a bit longer, he turned back to his tea, nodding matter-of-factly even as his lips threatened to stretch into the ghost of a smile, but didn't quite succeed. "Of course." he repeated.

* * *

"You garden?" he asked with some disbelief.

The older, white haired boy turned his head to look at him, clearly startled. His expression then morphed into one of amusement with a hint of wistfulness. "Where do you think all those sunflowers for Kyouko come from?" His grin was blindingly brilliant. "Yes, I extremely do!"

Tsuna cringed at the volume but recovered quickly, having grown used to his Guardian's antics over the years. His gaze swept over the sea of colours curiously, somehow attracted to the undeniable thrum of life in different shapes and sizes presented as flowers. Turning is attention back towards Ryohei, he hesitated for a moment before speaking up again.

"Do you need help?"

The Sun's grin widened further, "Sure! The more the merrier, right?"

He nodded enthusiastically, "Un." Keeling beside him, he helped out as much as he could, watering the plants, pulling out weeds and basically doing everything the boxer told him to.

A while later, once he had finished his current task, he gazed at his companion who was busy taking care of a particularly frail exemplar. Brow furrowed in concentration, he held it as a small, yellow flame erupted from the ring on his hand, engulfing the plant in its entirety.

"Onii-san?!" Tsuna called out, alarmed. Said boy turned to him, smiled and turned back to the flower. His own attention shifted back to it as well just in time to see it bloom into a strong, healthy blossom.

It was a fascinating sight, not to mention utterly beautiful. So enthralled he was by this process that the hand that landed on his shoulder startled him more than it probably should have. The other teen paid this no mind, though, as he sent yet another blinding grin his way. "How about you try it out, Tsuna?"

The brunet blushed lightly, but shook his head, "I don't have Sun flames, Onii-san. At the most, I think I'd just turn them to stone." he looked back at the flowers as he scratched the back of his head, "Statues of flowers are nice and all, but I think I prefer them alive and colourful. Just like this."

Ryohei seemed utterly flabbergasted at this statement, "Oh. I didn't think of that."

Taking a look at his face, Tsuna could not help but chuckle. "It's okay. I would've never thought of using sun flames to help plants grow either. How'd you come up with that anyway?"

The older teen tilted his head in a pondering manner, "Hmm, well, I normally use them to heal people, right? So I extremely thought that I could heal plants too, since they tend to wither so often. It just felt right, I guess."

Tsuna blinked, "Onii-san, when did you start gardening?"

"Huh? Oh, Kyouko and I used to help out Kaa-san with the gardening. It's been a few years, so I guess the habit stuck."

"So Kyouko-chan liked gardening, huh? Somehow, it doesn't surprise me." He said gently as I small smile graced his lips.

Ryohei shared his smile, "Aa. She used to say that it helped her calm down and clear her mind. Now that I think about it, it kinda does."

Tsuna regarded him for a few moments, taking in the sight before him. "You've gotten calmer lately."

"So have you."

"In a different way." He sighed, "I guess people do change over time."

"They extremely do! And the world changes with them. Ne, Redemption of the Vongola?" he teased.

The small brunet scoffed. "Oh, shut up. That wasn't my idea."

"You say that but you're planning exactly that, aren't you?"

His eyes widened as he looked back at the other. When had Onii-san become so... sharp? Even though he still was completely dense most of the time.

The boxer's grin grew, "I'm your Sun, Tsuna. I'm bound to understand my Sky, being the light and all that."

"...when did you start talking metaphors?"

"Metaphors?"

He snorted, "Forget it. 's not important." His gaze swept over the garden once again, "I'm no redemption, but I still want to redeem this Famiglia that was entrusted to me by grandpa and even Primo. It might not happen with me, nor with my successor, but it will eventually."

His head tilted upward, giving him open view of the clear sky.

"That's what I promised them."

* * *

"Check."

"Oya oya, you've gotten better Tsunayoshi."

"Well, one does tend to pick some things up when getting one's butt handed to him several times consecutively."

"Perhaps, but that's still not enough." He lifted his bishop and placed it on a deceivingly innocent looking square. "Check mate."

"..."

"..."

"What."

"It's right there. Just look for it."

"...oh. Dang."

"Which one is this?"

"The ninth defeat this week."

"And it's just Monday."

"Ugh."

"Kufufufu, what? No declaration of revenge?"

"It's a bit hard when the only thing I can manage in this game is stalling for time before my ultimate and inevitable demise."

Mukuro whistled, "Whoo, when was the last time I saw you being so negative?"

"Two months ago, when Naito came for a surprise visit."

"Right. There was that time."

"You know, you're being surprisingly friendly today."

"You mean to say 'suspiciously'."

"That too."

"Kufufufu, my dear Chrome has taken quite a liking to that baking book you gave her for her birthday. I had the honour of trying out her freshly baked, double layered chocolate cake this morning."

"Ah. Let me guess: it was great."

"It was heavenly."

"And _that_'s got you in such a good mood?"

"Ah, your ignorance about the wonders of chocolate is so sad, Tsunayoshi. Truly."

"...you're a chocolate addict? Hm, I learned something new today. But that's today. Why did you agree to playing with me _yesterday_?"

"The Vongola doesn't fully trust me-" Tsuna muttered something along the lines of _'Which is understandable'_, "-so I get assigned less missions than all the other Guardians, not to mention, I don't really need training like Chrome. Thus I, just like you, have much too much time to kill."

"Oh. That makes sense."

They sunk into a comfortable silence while Tsuna rearranged the pieces on the board, if only to give it a more aesthetically pleasing look.

"Hey, Mukuro. What you said to me back then-"

He clicked his tongue, "I've said many things to you. Be more specific."

Tsuna fidgeted a bit. "I meant that night before I almost... when I was talking to Chrome..."

Recognition sparked in his eyes.

"_... the first time we met, I tried to posses you, then to kill you. You shipped me off to Vendicare. I never really wanted anything to do with this world, but ended up following her here anyway..."_

_Tsuna waited, amber staring into ruby and sapphire._

"_I don't know you enough to be able to mourn you." he stated and his gaze intensified, "Then why..." after a moment longer of staring, he averted his gaze and chuckled bitterly, "You are so full of contradictions, Tsunayoshi."_

"Ah... that."

"Mukuro, you... you're my Mist Guardian-"

"No, Chrome is your Mist."

"Both of you are my Guardians! Even if you don't carry a ring to prove it, you're still one of us." The illusionist stilled, staring at him intently. He took this as a cue to continue. "Even if... no, _because_ you're my Guardian, I... I want there to be more. More than just business. More than an indirect relationship to make ends meet."

Heterochromatic eyes narrowed, "What are you trying to say?"

Tsuna took a deep breath and released it. "You said you don't know me enough, but fact of the matter is, I don't really know you either. Because you followed Chrome, you automatically became the seventh Guardian, but that means you will probably spend the rest of your life not only by her side, but by mine as well."

He was silently urged to continue.

"What I mean is... if we want this to work for such a long time... there has to be trust. _Mutual_ trust." He looked him square in the eye. "We have to actually know each other, so... I was thinking... why don't we start from the beginning?"

Mukuro raised an elegant eyebrow at this. "The beginning...?"

"Let's start off again with a blank slate, leave everything else behind. Vendicare, Kokuyo land, revenge and hurt, all of it."

The Mist was silent for a moment as Tsuna allowed him to process everything he'd just heard.

"I..." he finally said, "...may agree to this. Under the right circumstances, of course."

Tsuna was positively beaming at this point. He raised his arm, "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola Don."

After a moment of hesitation, he grasped the Sky's hand with his own, completing the handshake. "Rokudo Mukuro, Mist Guardian."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

* * *

It was while wandering the halls of the mansion in the search for his female Mist Guardian that Tsuna encountered a most curious sight. Three nameless subordinates (gosh, he was so bad with names it was embarrassing) and what appeared to be a quietly sobbing Lambo were sitting in a circle in of the more unused hallways, each holding a set of cards in their hands while the deck was lying in the middle of their little circle.

But what drew Tsuna's attention was not this particular scene. No, what really stood out were the three piles of deadly and dangerous weapons beside each of the men and the lack thereof (or of anything else worth noting) beside the boy.

Curious and for once willing to take advantage of his title, he approached them. "What's going on here?"

One of them looked up but quickly dismissed him, "Piss off, kid. This is none of yer concern."

Annoyed, he crossed his arms. "Isn't it?"

"I said-"

"Wait! Stop!" yelled the one to his right, having made out the features of said 'kid' in the gloom of the hallway, "You idiot! Do you want to die?"

"What? Lidio, what're you talki-"

"That's the Boss, you imbecile! Decimo!"

At his words, the two other men froze and slowly turned to look, really _look_ at him. Then, almost as one, they rose up quickly and awkwardly. "D-decimo! We're very sorry for our conduct! Please spare us!"

He stared at them for a moment, making them fidget. "That's alright. I'm not one to hold grudges." He could practically feel the relief oozing from them. "But-" He watched amusedly as they tensed up again. Maybe Reborn was rubbing off on him more than he realized. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"U-um, well, you see, we were just playing some poker since we don't have patrol duty or any kind of missions right now."

He raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "With _him_?" he asked, pointing at the sobbing and still oblivious Lambo.

"Well, yeah. The brat just came out of nowhere and said he wanted to play or somethin'. We let him join since he wouldn't have shut up otherwise."

"And all those weapons?"

"We have no idea! Since didn't have any money, we told to bet whatever he had. He's been pulling those out of his hair! How does that even work?" Somehow intimidated by the short teenage boy in front of him, he felt compelled to defend his sanity. "I'm telling the truth! I'm not making any of it up! It's all true, right guys?"

The other two hurriedly nodded in agreement. Tsuna sighed, "No, it's okay. I believe you. I was planning on banning all his weapons anyway. No better time than the present, I guess."

They looked confused at the familiarity in his tone.

"Just out of curiosity, Boss..."

"Hm?"

"Do you know this kid?"

"You don't?" they shook their heads somewhat hesitantly. His lips quirked up in amusement, "You do realize you've been bullying my Lightning Guardian, right?"

At that, they paled.

For once withholding his calming presence and leaving the three as one big nervous wreck, he walked up to the snivelling child and picked him up. "Tsu-tsuna-nii?"

"Come on, Lambo. I'll play with you so stop crying."

"Tsuna-nii..." he sobbed, "They took all my weapons! I didn't even know what we were playing!"

The 'older brother' sighed in aggravation. "Lambo, you won't be getting those back, if that's what you're trying to hint at. You might have been scammed, but it was still a deal."

"But- but- !"

"No buts." He declared the issue closed. Then, an idea struck him, "Hey, how about I teach you how to play poker so something like this doesn't happen again?"

The cow child stilled his whines and cries of unfairness, "R-really?"

"Sure, why not."

"Gyahaha! Lambo-sama is going to learn poker!"

"Hey! Not so loud. You'll blow my ear off!"

The boy though didn't pay his words any mind as he jumped down and circled around the still walking Tsuna with the boundless energy that seemingly all children seemed to possess until they reached their destination.

Once there, Tsuna found that the room wasn't empty. Fuuta and I-pin were there, staring at the enormous bowl of cookies on one of the coffee tables.

"Where did those come from?" he asked into the room. The kids turned around at the sound.

"Tsuna-nii!" exclaimed Fuuta, "Chrome-nee gave us these. But there's so many we don't even know where to with them."

Lambo then chose that moment to start bragging, "Hmph! That's nothing. Tsuna-nii promised to teach Lambo-san how to play poker!"

"Eh? Really? Is that true Tsuna-nii?"

He scratched the back of his head embarrassedly, "Well, yeah. You two can join in if you want."

""Yeah!""

"And we can divide the cookies equally and use them as chips. How does that sound?"

I-pin nodded energetically. "Great idea!"

"Okay then, I just need to find the deck and we can get started." he told them as he approached a chest of drawers in a corner of the room.

Now, while Tsuna was not at a professional level or anything of the sort, he did indeed know how to play. Not only that, he was actually quite good at it. Of course, with his horrible luck, that was only when he cheated (though Reborn liked to call it 'using all means at your disposal').

Letting just the tiniest bit of flames into his system – a small enough amount that wouldn't even affect his recovery, though the doctors had forbid any major use of flames for the time being – his face automatically became a mask of perfect blankness, showing nothing and betraying nothing. Yamamoto tended to joke that it was his 'serious battle face', but it also worked perfectly as a poker face.

As a side effect of this, a small part of his Hyper Intuition even bled into his consciousness, letting him use it and manipulate it at will.

These two factors were the reason why, some time later, the bowl of cookies lay on his side of the table, filled to the brim. Not a single piece of confectionery remained on the table.

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a nervous laugh escaping his lips.

"Well, since you guys already know how to play, how about we all just eat the cookies together, ne?"

* * *

Tones, arranged in a harmonious melody that expressed a myriad of emotions yet none at all, filled the nearly empty room and danced in the air, teasingly escaping through the door and the open windows.

Their origin was the sleek piano in the middle of the room, it's onyx and ivory keys being pressed in inexplicable patterns by the long, slender fingers of one silver haired boy who was deeply immersed in the music he himself was playing.

As the music reached its climax and then slowed to an end, his fingers stilled on the keys while he took in a breath.

"That was beautiful."

"Gya!" Hayato startled and quickly turned towards the now open door, "Ju-juudaime!"

Said boy smiled in reply. "Though I don't really know much about music so I can't tell who composed that."

Getting over his shock, he looked down at the keys. "That piece was... composed by my mother."

"Oh." he said, then quickly added on, "She must have been very talented."

A small smile tugged at the pianist's lips, "She truly was."

There was a lull in the conversation for a moment. Then, Tsuna looked back at the piano. "I... hope it's not too much trouble, but... would you play for me?"

The boy's eyes widened, "W-what? Why? Juudaime, I'm not very good and-"

"Nonsense. Give yourself some credit, Gokudera-kun. What I heard was wonderful."

"But... why..."

At that, he sighed, "Well, everyone's sort of getting on my case and telling me that I should rest and relax and not walk around or do anything even remotely work-related. I just feel like I could actually relax listening to you play." He ended the sentence with a kind, sheepish smile.

Hayato hesitated, "I..."

"Oh, you don't need to force yourself. If you don't want to then-"

"I'll do it!" he shouted suddenly, not entirely aware that he had just interrupted his Boss, "I... I'll do it, Juudaime. So just sit down and enjoy."

"...thanks."

For the next few minutes, music filled the air yet again, mixing with the sound of the wind and the chirps of the birds outside in the garden. With his eyes closed in contentment, the brunet could picture the notes dancing around each other, mixing and separating to the tune they themselves created.

Too soon, it was over and he slowly opened his eyes again – only to see his Storm's face contorted as if in pain, fists clenched tightly and hovering millimetres over the keys.

"Gokudera-kun?" he called worriedly, "Is something wrong?"

A minute passed with no reply, but just when he thought there would be none, the pianist spoke up, "Juudaime... you once told me... that I should cherish my own life... because there was still a lot of things we had yet to do together with everyone."

Tsuna sat silently, wondering where this was going.

"Then... I don't want to sound impudent, but..." He looked up and suddenly Tsuna could see grief, relief and anger in his shining teal eyes. "...please follow your own advice, Juudaime!"

The brunet remained silent, but this time more out of shock than curiosity, as his Guardian continued.

"Everyone else is pretending it never happened. They're trying to escape the truth, running away from it or simply making fun of it. I wanted to do that too. Just forget about it all and keep on living happily, but... but I can't in good conscience, erase that from my memories.

"You almost died! And that... that's a fact we can't simply erase. It was horrible, like getting a chunk of my heart torn out. But, precisely _because_ of that, I don't want it to happen again. So _please_," Tsuna almost flinched at the pure, raw emotion in his voice, "cherish your own life as much as you cherish ours."

"_Then maybe I simply deserve to die."_

_SLAP._

"_How could you say something like that! What about those you'd be leaving behind? Don't you care about us? What do you think we would do without you?!"_

For a moment, the room was entirely silent, with neither music nor words to fill the air as both teenagers tried to cope with the numerous raging feelings that were threatening to break out.

Finally, the Sky took the initiative to speak, "I..." he started, "...I'm sorry. Really sorry. I didn't... I didn't realize..." Words failed him for a moment as he took a deep breath to compose himself. "I will. I promise."

Hayato looked at him for a moment. Then, he smiled in apparent relief, as if having found what he'd been looking for.

"Thank you."

"Don't. I was being selfish and stupid."

"Still."

Once again, comfortable silence permeated the air, meant to be broken shortly after its beginning.

"Would you play another piece for your selfish Sky?"

Hayato's eyes softened and his fingers immediately sought the keys, "Of course."

And this time, Tsuna didn't close his eyes as he observed the silver haired youth play with an incredible passion that sent his inner flames roaring and such deep, pure emotion that his heart started beating in tandem with the music and so intensely it felt as if it would burst any minute.

Yet again, at the end, the musician's fingers laid motionlessly on the keys, as if awaiting the command to keep playing at a moments notice.

At that moment, there was clapping. He looked at Tsuna, only to see that it wasn't him as he looked just as confused as he himself was. Looking around, he found the source of the sound at the open doorway, a tall, slender, pink haired woman.

"Agh! Aneki!"

He quickly turned his back to her, clutching his stomach and fully expecting the pain and nausea to hit any moment. Only, it never came.

"Now, that's no way to greet your beautiful sister, is it, Hayato?"

Slowly and very reluctantly, he turned back around to face her and finally took in her appearance. She was in her usual attire: tight pants, a sleeveless shirt, hair down, glasses-

Wait, what?

He looked closer. Yep, those were glasses. Horn rimmed to be exact.

"Are those... new?"

"What? Oh, you mean these?" she pointed at his object of observation, to which he nodded, "Yeah, apparently, I'm actually somewhat short sighted and not comfortable with contacts at all."

"...really?"

So fascinated he was by this new found discovery, that he never noticed Tsuna sneaking out of the room to leave the two siblings alone, smile still firmly in place.

* * *

"There you are!"

"Kya!"

"Oh, sorry! Are you okay?"

"B-boss?"

He bent down to help her pick up the bowl she had let fall when he'd startled her.

"You've been looking for me?"

"What? Oh, yes, I have."

"Why"

He looked around, taking in the current appearance of the kitchen. It seemed she had indeed bit as busy throughout the last few weeks as others led him to believe. "That can wait. So, I see you've put that book I gave you to good use."

"Huh?" she tilted her head confusedly and he motioned at the flour covered kitchen, making her blush in embarrassment, "O-oh, that, well... I... enjoy it."

"Baking?"

She nodded, "Un. I'm not that great at cooking in general like Haru-san or Kyouko-san, but they used to tell me often that I could bake really well, so..."

"Then you should probably check on those muffins in the oven."

Her eyes widened, "Ah! I completely forgot!" she stood up quickly and almost ran over to the oven, opening it and backing out just before the heat wave reached her face. She took one look at the muffins inside and her shoulders sagged in relief. "They're okay."

"You really enjoy this, don't you?"

She flashed him a small smile, "I do. Thank you for the book, Boss."

He scratched his cheek, embarrassed. "You already thanked me. No need to do it twice."

She giggled and turned back to the tray of muffins, "Would you like one?" She held up the sugary treat.

Tsuna, not one to refuse anything made with sugar, gladly accepted. He looked around once more. It was quite a mess in here. "Say, do you need help?"

"Help?"

"As in, with the washing and all that."

"Oh, no. You don't need to do that, Boss-"

"But you're running out of space to work on."

At that, she stilled, then turned to actually look at the kitchen, "...whoops."

He laughed lightly at her expression, "You know, I used to help my mom out in the kitchen every once in a while. I can actually wash dishes. So..."

"...your help would be much appreciated." she said softly, a light blush lighting up her cheeks, "I honestly don't know how it became like this."

This just made him laugh more. Pulling up his sleeves, he started collecting various bowls and utensils and bringing to the admittedly overfilled sink. Humming a catchy tune, he got to work on washing while Chrome looked around for a towel to dry the dishes with.

"_Hane ga nai tenshi wa boku ni itta._" he sang absentmindedly under his breath, "_Ie he to kaeru chizu wo nakushita._"

"_Hiriki na boku wa efude wo totte._" he startled and almost let go of the knife he was currently holding when another voice chimed in a far clearer voice, "_Kawaita e no gu ni mizu wo sasu._"

"Eh? You know that song?" he asked, completely forgetting about the task at hand.

She smiled shyly, "It was quite the hit three or so years ago. I'm surprised _you_ do, though, Boss."

He laughed sheepishly, "My mom listened to it a lot when she was preparing dinner. It sort of stuck."

She giggled and he smiled in reply. As they finally finished washing the dishes, he dried his hands and cleared his throat. "Uhm, well, the actual reason I was looking for you," he fished out a piece of folded paper from his pocket, "is this."

She took it and unfolded, growing more confused the more she read, "Boss, what is this?"

"It's an appointment at the hospital."

She looked up, "But for what?"

"An organ transplant."

"..." she stared at him for a while, unbelieving. "But... I..."

He sighed, "I know that you can maintain your illusionary organs and all that, Chrome, but there might come a time when you are very low on flames and just can't anymore. I don't want that to happen, however small the possibility may be."

She kept staring at him, then looked back at the paper, then back at him. Before he knew it, she had her arms around his neck, her next words muffled through the embrace, "Thank you."

Tsuna sputtered for a moment, cheeks a light pink, "That's alright."

"Thank you." she insisted.

He paused, then softly said, "You're welcome."

They stood like that for a while, comfortable in each other's presence, until Tsuna finally noticed the obvious.

"Um, Chrome? You can let go now."

"Ah!" she immediately backed down, utterly embarrassed by her own behaviour, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." he tried to calm her down, "I'm glad that you actually agreed."

At that, she sent him the most brilliant smile he had ever seen her don. "Thank you, Boss."

He smiled back, "No problem."

* * *

Throughout the weeks of Tsuna's recuperation, certain small, black packages, each containing the same silver rings with small orange stones, were sent out to their owners-to-be while several were also distributed to many particular individuals within the Vongola mansion itself, immediately taking their rightful place on the fingers of Guardians, friends, friends of Guardians and the Ninth generation.

Three of these boxes arrived at Varia Headquarters, one at the Tomasso masion, one at he Cavallone mansion, one at the Gesso mansion and two more at the Giglio Nero Headquarters.

Unsurprisingly, another pair of these boxes arrived at the CEDEF base while seven were sent over to the Shimon base in Palermo and a single one to a certain strongest man in Italy at an undisclosed location.

Finally, several days later, these boxes also reached the faraway eastern lands of China and Japan, the former which only had one box delivered to a secluded house in the mountains. One such box was also delivered to the Kusakabe household in Japan, one to the Kurokawa household and two each to the Sasagawa and Irie households, the latter of which a certain young inventor was currently visiting, a fact that the Vongola was well aware of.

Lastly, a pair of these boxes also arrived at the Sawada household. One of the rings was already being worn by one Sawada Nana, while the other waited in the living room still in its box for its rightful owner.

With each box came a small note written by Sawada Tsunayoshi, explaining the purpose of the rings and their necessity.

Not even weeks had passed since then and the rumours had already started to spread.

Sawada Tsunayoshi,_ il Capo di Vongola_, had claimed his Family as his own and made it quite clear who exactly belonged to it, apparently encompassing not only the Vongola, but even members of allied Famiglie, standalone Mafiosi and even completely unrelated people. Some, mostly of the more idiotic kind, took it as a challenge, but most Mafiosi worth their salt who were well informed in the going ons of their world saw what it really was.

A warning.

And a promise of slaughter should the former be ignored.

* * *

AN:

so, to make up for the long break, here is an extra long chapter. no, seriously, this is more than two times my usual amount of words. also, if my writing style seems different, you can blame Gigguk and GRArkada from youtube and if Tsuna seems just the tiniest bit ooc, that's because, for some reason, while I was writing him, I coulnd't get Firo from Baccano out of my head. Btw, Baccano is awesome! Go watch it! Preferably dubbed (and I do not say this lightly).

So, here is the long awaited filler chapter! In which Tsuna gets to interact with all his Guardians. Please keep in mind that this takes place over a few weeks so every scene happens on a different day. Also, blatantly obvious plot device in the form of rings! Yay!

Oh, Il Capo di Vongola (probably) means the Boss of Vongola. If not, feel free to correct me. And that song Tsuna and Chrome were singing? That's Drawing Days, first opening of KHR.

Edit: I changed Ryohei's bangle to a ring because a few pieces of the VG are way too conspicuous to walk around with but they can't just leave them behind. what if there's an emergency? therefore, most of the time the Gear will be back in the form of rings.

Edit #2: Upped the amount of rings sent to the Varia to three.

**Please leave a review on your way out. Thank you~**


	10. The Woes of Being Mafia

It started the day after Tsuna sent out the 'family rings', as Haru liked to put it, to their rightful owners.

Hayato had been sent, yet again, to retrieve his Boss who was late for breakfast. Deciding that it was too early to find him in the office, he'd gone left instead, towards his private chambers. Once at the heavily reinforced door he had rather unsuccessfully tried to kick down mere weeks ago, he knocked.

"Juudaime! Breakfast's ready. We're waiting for you."

What he got in reply, however, was not said boy's shrill, panicked voice after realizing he was late for a meal – again – but a rather indistinct and in his honest opinion somewhat disturbing noise. Slightly worried, he called out again. "Juudaime?"

For a moment nothing could be heard. Just as he was about to pull out his emergency key, the door burst open, giving him full view of the obviously hastily dressed brunet in all his morning glory. He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him, giving the silver haired teen a bright, if only the slightest bit strained smile and a nod in acknowledgement of his previous statement.

Hayato paused for only a moment before leading Tsuna towards the dining room, as had almost become custom during the last few months. They walked together in comfortable silence for a while, until curiosity got the better of him.

"Juudaime, is everything alright?"

He received a confused glance for his efforts.

"Ah, no, it's just, I heard something weird from your room a moment ago."

Realization dawned in Tsuna's eyes accompanied by something else that was quickly covered up before he sent him a reassuring smile which succeeded magnificently in defusing any of his worries.

Finally arriving at their destination, they sat down in their respective seats, thus allowing breakfast to officially begin (which really hadn't deterred Reborn from serving himself some food beforehand).

During the entire meal, Hayato noticed, Tsuna didn't speak a single word.

* * *

"Is he giving us the cold shoulder?"

It had been five days already since that incident and even the densest members of Tsuna's family in his immediate vicinity had already figured out something was wrong. After all, why else would said Sky stop talking for days on end?

In all five days, he had not said a single word. When he was asked to, he somehow changed the subject. When he was bribed, he just smiled and walked away. Even when Reborn had threatened to have an extensive tortu- erm, training session, he'd simply whimpered while still shaking his head vigorously.

It was off-putting and no one really knew what to do about it, which lead to the current conversation, spurred on by Takeshi's absentminded question.

Hayato snorted at the mere thought and made to retort, but Haru beat him to it, eliciting a glare from the bomber, which she masterfully ignored. "I don't think so. We haven't really done anything wrong and he can't exactly be mad at the world. Besides, he's still kind and friendly to everyone, just like always. He's just more... quiet about it."

Takeshi hummed in acknowledgement.

"Maybe he's sick and can't speak?" offered Chrome, but the possibility was quickly shot down by Ryohei.

"No, I already checked. Aside of the internal damage that's pretty much gone by now, there's nothing wrong with him. He _has_ grown a few inches, though..." the last part was almost muttered as the boxer sank back into his worried thoughts.

Mukuro, quickly growing tired of this, finally voiced the idea that everyone had been thinking about but no one had been willing to propose, "How about we just ask him directly?"

"He couldn't answer, stupid pineapple."

Mukuro bristled at the silver haired boy but kept himself under control, if only to get this over with as quickly as possible, "I _know_ that, you ignorant fool. But nothing is keeping him from writing it down, is it? And if he doesn't want to, there's always other ways..." he ended the statement vaguely, allowing them to imagine whatever their minds conjured up.

Evidently, it worked as Hayato suddenly shot up from his chair, hands twitching towards his hidden dynamite stash in an age old habit. "Don't you _dare_ do _anything_ to Juudaime, you-"

"Maa, maa, maybe you should calm down, Gokudera. Nothing will come out of it if you start fighting and we still haven't figured this out."

Said boy sent him a heated glare, which he knew to smile away from experience, before clicking his tongue and sitting back down, his mood definitely not improved from its previous state.

"But... I guess you're right. Maybe we should just ask." Takeshi looked towards Mukuro, waiting for a reaction.

Said illusionist snorted derisively, "Of course I'm right. And I will not waste any more time here than necessary." He walked out the door, quickly followed by his female counterpart.

Ryouhei looked at the remaining people in the room, taking in Hayato's grumbles of frustration and Takeshi's sheepish shrug before running out the door himself, the rest following suit after a moment's hesitation.

"Oi! Wait for us to the extreme!"

* * *

As it turned out, having all members of Tsuna's family from the Vongola mansion together in one place was a very bad idea. The effects were multiplied, however, if said get-together took place in the Boss' office, which was filled to the brim with priceless artefacts, antique objects and mountains of _very important_ documents.

Tsuna, for his part, was on the verge of panicking. They had all just suddenly barged in, demanding an explanation for his sudden muteness, but had shortly thereafter noticed that they didn't all fit into the office, not giving him any chance to answer.

Thus, his office was overcome with chaos.

He sighed and ran a hand down his face. First week back in the job and he already had to deal with this. He even had a good reason for his behaviour too!

Well, at least he considered it a good reason, though, having tried speaking numerous times while alone in his room, his primary reason was pretty much gone by now. The only other reason why he hadn't spoken a word to anyone was a bit more childish, which made him embarrassed.

He scanned the room to distract himself. Out of everyone here, Takeshi seemed the calmest of them all. Perhaps he could defuse the situation as he usually did.

Alas, it was not to be, as the Rain himself had no idea what to do. It was way to cramped in here and he could barely move. He just hoped they didn't break anything too important.

"Turf top! I'll blow you to bits!"

A growl.

"Kufufufu, your movements are slowing, skylark."

A shriek.

Takeshi winced. Yeah, he could hope, but that didn't seem to mean much.

"Everyone STOP!"

Those two words seemingly cut through the chaos in the room, leaving only stunned silence in their wake. The voice that had shouted them was foreign to all of them and many found themselves looking for the source.

It was deep, a man's voice, yet not enough to be grating. It seemed smooth and silky, a voice that could relax you with a single word and convince you that yes, the sky was indeed green, with five. Its melodious quality left them all dazedly looking around.

Then it came again.

"All of you, get out of my office! NOW!"

Now that there was no chaos in the way, it was easy to pinpoint the source.

Everyone looked towards the desk at the front of the room, where a single brunet, eyes blazing in disapproval, stood expectantly, waiting for them to comply.

They all froze in their tracks.

What.

No, seriously.

_What._

They stood there, brains shutting down and starting back up repeatedly, trying to process what was going on and failing miserably. Finally, someone broke the silence, snapping them out of their self-imposed trance.

"J-j-ju-juud-d-daim-me...?"

The centre of everyone's attention sighed resignedly, a mild blush of embarrassment decorating his cheeks. "Yes, Gokudera-kun?"

And there it was again. That voice. That unfamiliar yet alluring voice. There was no doubt now.

Takeshi, being his obliviously cheerful self, finally offered the plausible explanation everybody else had been looking for.

"Oh! So you're a late bloomer, Tsuna!"

Tsuna spluttered.

* * *

"Wait, so let me get this straight." interjected Haru, who was looking more incredulous by the second, "You stopped talking the moment your voice change started because you didn't want us to hear you like that."

He nodded.

"And when it was finished, you just kept silent because you thought the sudden change was embarrassing."

He flushed, but nodded again.

She sighed, shaking her head, "Well, at least it's nothing bad."

"But you must have talked at _some_ point." Takeshi inquired.

Tsuna muttered something inaudible.

Mukuro frowned irritatedly, "What was that?"

Tsuna was starting to resemble a tomato, "I talked to myself when I was alone."

They blinked, but decided not to comment on that, lest their Boss die of high blood pressure.

In the end, it was decided that this incident would be kept under wraps. Most of them being teenagers, they all easily agreed.

After all, no one wanted to be reminded of the horrors of puberty.

* * *

Surprisingly enough, the voice incident was quickly forgotten as more pressing issues entered the stage. In fact, it was mostly preparations for what Tsuna had sworn to do even before he'd officially accepted the Boss' mantle. He was preparing to do what he'd been meaning to from the very beginning, but had not gotten the chance to start.

He was preparing to change the Vongola.

And the entirety of the Mafia by extension.

Needless to say, it was very stressful work.

The Vongola, he knew, was not considered the bloodiest Famiglia out there for nothing. While not all at the same time, the Famiglia _had_ been involved in every kind of shady trade out there at some point or other; from weapons and human trafficking and drug trade to loansharkings, extortion and smuggling. Not to mention indiscriminate murder of those in their way. They'd had it all.

Sure, they had started to tone down with the ninth generation, but that wasn't nearly enough to uproot centuries of habit and tradition. This was why Nono hadn't asked him to simply change the Famiglia.

He'd asked to tear it down and build it up from its roots.

Sadly, as much as Tsuna would have loved to, it was near impossible to do that without completely and utterly destroying it and any influence it currently held in both the world and the underworld. While he wouldn't have minded starting a completely new vigilante group, he knew that firstly, it would throw the whole international Mafia in disarray, and secondly, said influence was very much needed if he wanted to get away with what he was trying to do.

So, as gladly as he would have gotten rid of all these illicit activities his Famiglia partook in, he really couldn't ditch them all. Otherwise, he would suddenly find himself with absolutely no income to work with and his already quite delicate house of cards would collapse on him. Therefore, his goal was to slowly shift the Vongola towards more... guilt-free sources of income.

This meant that he would probably be keeping drugs and weapons trade, since as much as it made the world worse, they really weren't forcing anyone to buy their goods. The morals were twisted at best, but hey, he was a Mafia Boss. It sort of came with the package.

Also the Varia. He really didn't want an assassination squad. But, favours and tentative friendships aside, there were some people in the world you simply couldn't reason with. You know, the ones who tried to screw up the world more than it already was (pre-death Byakuran being a prime example). Those people were what he still needed the Varia for, not to mention extra forces in the very probable case of a disagreeing party starting a full-out war.

He winced as he saw an image of his younger self in his mind's eye, berating him for such thoughts. Sighing, he leaned back on his chair. Back then he had been so innocent, so soft – not jaded – and had held his ideals at heart. He sometimes wished he could go back to simpler times, when he could verbally deny his fate while stubbornly ignoring the impossibility of escape.

Sighing once more, he sat back up and went back to work. The transition to the vigilante group the Vongola had started as would be gradual and a long, bumpy ride, that was for sure. He was attempting the same as the previous generation, but this time it would work, if only because he was stubborn enough to see this through until the end.

Ah, that brought back some memories. He smiled wistfully, remembering the first time he had taken everything into his own two hands. Back then he'd been willing to move mountains for the sake of the one baby hitman who had stubbornly refused his help. The feeling was the same now.

It hadn't worked before because Nono had been too gradual about it, too compliant, and everything had eventually gone back to its previous state. Tsuna, however, would do this far more erratically. While the change would be gradual in a certain sense, he would also make sure to push it as much as possible before everyone else's patience broke, at which point he would clean up and keep pushing once everything was calm again.

If there was one thing he knew, it was that he couldn't simply leave it to change itself; he had to have a hand in it. It wouldn't be easy, sure, but he was determined to get this done.

Then again, while most of it _would_ be gradual (if at an exponential rate), the first step... would be more like a _leap_. The first signs of change had to be big, which would probably come as a punch in the gut or a bucket of ice water for the more complacent members of his Famiglia.

He held in a wince. No, they wouldn't like it. Neither in the Vongola, nor in its allies.

That's why the first speech, the one that would break this to his entire Famiglia in less than an hour, would probably make or break his plans. The moment they turned their backs to him was the moment everything would fail. They might even be so outraged that he and his Guardians would have to flee from the underground. To where, he had no idea.

He shuddered. He really hoped it didn't come to that.

Managing to calm himself down, he stood up and walked out of his office and towards his rooms. He had to take a shower.

After all, he had to give the most important speech of his life in two hours and it really wouldn't do to appear in front of the entire Famiglia covered in nervous sweat.

At least he didn't sound like a brat anymore. That ought to earn him some points.

Hopefully.

* * *

BANG.

Sweat trickled down his neck, soaking his shirt.

BANG.

His visor was starting to fog up.

BANG.

His arms were stiff and sore.

BANG. BANG.

He didn't care.

And the next shot would be-

"Boss?"

! ! !

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.

He let the hand with the pistol hang beside him while he raised the other one to rub his face, then looked at his _most certainly_ unexpected companion.

"...Chrome? What are you doing here?"

She startled, "A-ah, I just... wanted to check on you. We haven't seen you since your... speech. Though, I didn't think you'd be doing target practice..."

He sighed heavily, "It's okay, Chrome."

She looked at the human-shaped target at the other side of the room. It was riddled with holes, but except for a few, they were all on non-lethal locations: arms, legs, hips, shoulders, ears. "B-but you don't seem to be doing well with a gun, except for those last four shots."

He released a dry chuckle accompanied by a weary smile, "That's because I was aiming at non-vital areas. Those last four were an accident."

Her eyes widened and she looked back at the target. The only four holes that _were_ in a vital area were nailed perfectly centralized at the forehead, the neck, the heart and the crotch.

And that was an _accident_?

Gulping when she heard the distinct sound of a gun being loaded behind her, she silently wondered if Reborn's tutoring methods were all about making his students absolutely terrifying without them knowing.

"B-boss?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you here?"

A sigh, "I'm trying to release some stress."

She felt something being pressed to her ears and suddenly all sound was muffled. Still, she asked. It was a wonder that he actually heard her.

"Why?"

His lips were pulled into a bitter smile as he raised the gun once again, this time before a different target, and yelled loud enough to be heard.

"I've been a Mafia Don for several months-"

BANG.

"-and I'm only seventeen!"

BANG.

"I had to drag all my friends into this too!"

BANG.

"I lost a very important person-"

BANG.

"-wanted to avenge her-"

BANG.

"-and almost died for it!"

BANG.

"Not to mention, I've still got Night flame residues that won't-"

BANG.

"-go-"

BANG.

"-away!"

BANG. BANG.

"I've got mountains of paperwork waiting for me every day-"

BANG.

"-and you guys always manage to make it worse!"

BANG.

"Just a few hours ago, I had to give this speech-"

BANG.

"-the most important in my life-"

BANG.

"-to convince an entire Famiglia-"

BANG.

"-that we're not Mafia anymore-"

BANG.

"-and a whole _third_ of our forces left us!"

BANG. BANG.

"Not to mention, I've got a meeting with our allies in a few days-"

BANG.

"-to convince _them_ of the same-"

BANG.

"-and hope they don't start a freaking _war_-"

BANG.

"-because I'm invading their comfort zone!"

BANG. BANG. BANG.

"And _still_ my doctors won't-"

BANG.

"-let me-"

BANG.

"-_train_!"

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.

She stood there, frozen, as she took in the new target, riddled with holes. She felt the pressure on her ears go away and saw Tsuna storing everything back into their designated places, gun included.

He turned to her and sighed, "I'm sorry. I just needed to vent a bit."

She nodded, coming out of her stupor. "I-I understand, Boss. It's not easy and you're not exactly in a comfortable position. But... why shooting?"

He laughed lightly at that, and she was inexplicably happy she could make him do that, "Well, I already told you I'm not allowed to train because I'm not supposed to do any _'straining flame-related activities'_ for another week or so and Reborn's been beating this into me ever since we came here, so I figured," he shrugged, "why not?"

"So you use shooting as an outlet?"

"Precisely."

She blinked and a sudden realization hit her just as they exited the room. "Ah! You said you have a meeting with our allies."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

She tried to muffle her giggles, but to no avail, "Are the Shimon coming too?"

"Huh? Oh, not all of them. Just Enma and Adelheid this time. Why? You wanted to see them?"

She shook her head, "Not particularly. It's just... Haru-san."

He raised an eyebrow, "Haru?"

She nodded, suppressing another fit of giggles, "She... she's taken a liking to Enma-san."

He blinked. Then blinked again.

"What? Since when?"

"She told she met him at the Inheritance Ceremony."

"She- he- that-" when he thought back to it, he _had_ introduced them right before the ceremony, "Wha-"

That didn't mean he could get his head around it.

Finally calming himself, he looked back at her only to blush furiously when he saw her shaking uncontrollably with suppressed laughter.

"I-it just took me by surprise, that's all!"

She attempted to nod but almost lost control. This just helped to mortify him even more, which in turn deepened his blush.

"Jeez, Chrome, don't be like that."

It was a while before she removed her hand from her mouth, "I'm sorry, Boss. It's just-" a giggle, "-your reaction..." she trailed off as another giggle escaped her.

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly, "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I looked stupid. No big deal."

"No, no. It's not-"

An idea struck him. "But," he interrupted, "I know Enma will be staying for a few days after the meeting. Why don't you go tell her _that_? See how _she_ reacts."

She didn't know where the courage to say it came from. Maybe she had become closer to him or maybe it was this feeling of acceptance he exuded. Either way, she said it right before they parted ways.

"Petty."

Tsuna spluttered.

* * *

AN:

I'm alive. And I just sacrificed my last day of vacation to finish this. Be grateful. Oh, and this story has a new summary. I'll try it out for a while and see if I keep it or go back to the old one.

Also, I had no idea how to end this chapter, then that conversation happened. ugh... oh, and I'm by no means an expert in the male aspects of puberty. everything I have, I know from wikipedia. and no, people, the next arc isn't about puberty. I just needed to stick this somewhere (TYL Tsuna's voice omgasdfg!) and right in the middle of of the arc would have been a... bad idea. It wouldn't have fit in all the chaos. And I couldn't save it for after because I don't even know if I'm making a third arc. Thus, we start the arc with a wonderful reminder that yes, puberty does exist, and no, Tsuna wasn't going to remain a short, shrill-voiced brat forever.

And so, the second arc begins! Enjoy!

**Please leave a review on your way out. Thank you~**


	11. Ally or Foe

"A council?"

The elderly man nodded gravely, "Yes, Tsunayoshi. Ruling this Famiglia is already a challenge in and of itself for one man. To manage the entire alliance by yourself would be far more than just a handful."

"So I should form a council of my most trusted allies to help me with matters related to the entire alliance?"

"Precisely. It is a tradition of sorts, but one that hasn't lost its meaning through the ages."

"Well, I guess I could ask them at the upcoming meeting." Tsuna said somewhat hesitantly.

Timoteo smiled, "Of course. Oh, and speaking of councils..." he paused, sighing, but an intent look from Tsuna prompted him to continue, "...my old council has urged me to relay a message."

He tilted his head, "What kind of message?"

"They want an heir."

Tsuna blinked. What? "An heir...?"

The ninth sighed heavily, "Tsunayoshi, you should know that, while your previous fatal condition was kept from leaking to the outside, those who needed to know were informed. Thankfully, none of these belong to the group that left after your... speech. Nevertheless, the previous council was included in this circle.

"Normally, we would wait until you were mature enough to marry and procure an heir, but normally we also have more than one temporary heir in the Boss' generation to take his place in case that he dies before fathering a child or just shortly after. This generation of the Vongola line, however, only has you. There is no one else that we could rely on should death take you early except for myself, but with my age, I am a last resort at best. That was made painfully obvious when we almost lost you to an ailment never before seen.

"That's why the former council is pushing for an heir now. I know you probably don't even want to consider it and I can see why, but I implore you to, if only to keep our line intact."

By now Tsuna had turned beet red, "B-but I'm- I'm o-o-only sixteen!" he cried in alarm.

"Almost seventeen."

"Still!"

Timoteo sighed again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "I know, Tsunayoshi, and I really don't want to push this unto you, but please at least consider it."

The young Don tried to cool his head for a moment before answering, "I-I-I'll t-try, grandpa..." He shook his head briskly to chase away any images that were starting to form in his currently hormone-filled brain, "B-but...th-that means, if there w-were someone e-e-else with Vongola blood, I would b-be exempted from this?" he asked in morbid curiosity.

The retired Boss gave him a sad smile. "That would be the case, yes. Unfortunately, we have spent years trying to find any trace of a long lost heir and have yet to find any besides yourself."

Tsuna's brow scrunched up in thought. "Thank you for... informing me. I'll keep your advice in mind."

"It was my pleasure, Tsunayoshi. Good luck at the meeting."

He cringed, "Yeah..."

"They will probably await your answer in a few weeks. Good bye."

Tsuna reeled, fierce blush back with a vengeance. _A few weeks! What the hell?!_ He buried his head into his hands, hoping against all hope that this was all just a bad dream. Yeah, just a horrible nightmare he would wake up from soon.

Any moment now.

The little part of his mind called common sense was about to make a sarcastic remark, but decided against it. The poor boy already had enough on his plate. A moment of delusion wouldn't do much harm.

That was how Hayato found him fifteen minutes later. "Juudaime? Is everything alright?"

Large, brown eyes peeked out from beneath his fingers, which covered most of his still burning face. "Not really. I'm sort of being pressured into making the most difficult decision of my life."

Hayato tilted his head, "Whether to send Hibari and Mukuro together on a very important mission that needs them both, but you don't know if the Vongola can pay for the inevitable collateral damage?" he guessed.

Tsuna blinked.

"...fine. The _second_ most difficult decision of my life."

* * *

Sawada Tsunayoshi, having donned the mask of Vongola Decimo, swept his gaze over the room, his mind automatically putting a label to every face in his field of vision.

A young man with longish, blonde hair and very handsome features. Dino Cavallone. Cavallone Don. Previously allied. Definite ally.

A tall, bulky man with almost brown skin and curly, black hair. Osmondo Razza. Scoglio Don. Previously allied. Unknown factor.

A small, somewhat mousy man with light brown hair and light skin. Armando Buccheri. Colomba Don. Previously allied. Unknown factor.

A petite girl with deep, blue eyes and straight, greenish hair. Uni. Giglio Nero Donna. Possible ally.

Presumably a man. No features visible behind a broken mask and a long, decorated coat. True identity unknown. Goes by Edgar Kosomov, no patronymic. Giegue leader. Previously allied. Unknown factor.

A short, young redhead with equally red eyes. Kozato Enma. Shimon Don. Previously allied. Definite ally.

A tall, young man with a lithe body and wild, white hair. Byakuran Gesso. Gesso Don. Possible ally. Decision dependant on Giglio Nero.

A slender, blonde woman with a prominent scar across the cheek. Vivianne Davois. Spada Donna. Previously allied. Unknown factor.

A round, brown haired man wearing spectacles. Famiano Bovino. Bovino Don. Previously allied. Possible ally.

A underdressed, lanky boy with short, spiky hair. Naito Longchamp. Tomasso Don. Previously allied. Definite ally.

A short man with pale skin, ash blond hair and an athletic build. Cassiano Boggio. Argento Don. Previously allied. Unknown factor.

Having assured himself that he still remembered everything he was supposed to, he gave his right-hand man a subtle hand sign. Hayato noticed immediately and cleared his throat, "Everyone is accounted for and the security checks have been finished. We will now begin this meeting to reforge the Vongola alliance." he declared clearly and with a healthy measure of authority, which made every eye in the room lock onto him.

Decimo turned back to the assembled Bosses. "Please, take a seat. In front of you are the documents for the new alliance. Take a look at them, if you would."

Minutes passed as the arguably most powerful men and women of the underworld flipped through the pages while he summarized the different points vocally. Everything was going well until they reached a certain section of the 'treaty'.

"...and therefore these activities shall be prohibited for the members of this alliance- What the hell is this?!" exclaimed the Scoglio Boss, Razza, his voice having suddenly risen from the murmur it had been, "You may be the head of the alliance, Vongola, but you can by no means control our business! This alliance is supposed to be an aid in battle, nothing more."

Having somewhat expected this, Tsuna took it in stride, "And that is what I'm trying to change. I know everyone here was present at my Inheritance Ceremony, so you should already know that my aim is..." he paused, searching for the right word that was not _that_ word and then giving up, "...The redemption of my Famiglia, and for that certain things must be left behind."

Boggio frowned, "Oi, but this is too much, isn't it? With all these restrictions and rules involving civilians, it almost looks as if you're trying to become a vigilante... group..." he trailed off as his eyes met the Vongola's piercing gaze. He blinked once, twice, then burst out laughing. "Oh! Hah, I can't believe it! You're serious about this, aren't you?"

Tsuna didn't waver, "Indeed I am."

The man got himself under control and sent an amused smirk his way, "My oh my, what am I to do? I have no idea what will come out of this. You will probably meet your downfall, but then again, you might just succeed in this fool's endeavour. I find myself more than a little curious."

He responded with a rather bemused smile to hide the slight narrowing of his eyes. "I'm glad I could serve to your entertainment, Argento." This man was cunning and the side he ultimately joined would most probably be the winning one. He needed to be careful around him.

Razza, who apparently didn't take well to being ignored, decided to interrupt, "Look, _ragazzo_, this is the Mafia. The _underground_. It's called that because the things that we do are less than legal. And you think you can just waltz in here with that idealism of yours and everything will change?"

He was about to snort but the sudden drop in temperature kept him from doing so. Looking back at the boy he had addressed, he froze as an almost _glowing_, cold, orange glare pinned him to his seat, a stark contrast to the wide, brown eyes he could have sworn had been there instead just a moment ago.

"I may be quite young, but as of right now I am the Don of an entire Famiglia, just like every single one of you. I am not a mere _boy_, so I'd suggest you refrain from calling me that. As for my purpose, it might be idealistic, but I've been working for months to turn the ideal into reality. I know the process will be long and gruelling, but that won't stop me. Not at all." his voice cut through the tension in the room like a hot knife to butter.

Davois skimmed the third page once again before speaking up. "Still, money doesn't grow on trees. We can't simply let go of our only sources of income."

Decimo nodded, "Of course. That would be unreasonable. Some of these will even be left alone. But for those listed in the document, I was planning to slowly shift them to... different sources. The transition would be gradual and stable so you wouldn't be left without any income at all."

She raised a slender eyebrow, "Surely it wouldn't go so smoothly."

He smiled wryly, "That's what this alliance is for."

Dino's eyes widened and he spoke for the first time since entering the room, "So you're saying it wouldn't be only combative support, but economic as well?"

"Precisely. There are other minor details, but that's the gist of it."

Soft murmuring filled the room for a moment before all attention was drawn to Longchamp, who skipped right to the last page in the folder. Not a word was spoken as he uncapped a pen, signed the paper and placed his stamp beside the signature. Closing the folder and looking up, he directed the most serious gaze Tsuna had ever seen him don towards him and spoke in a calm voice he wouldn't have thought possible for the usually hyperactive boy.

"The Tomasso agree. I trust you, Tsuna, and I trust your judgement." He looked back at the folder and shoved it to the middle of the table, declaring himself done with it and then holding his gaze once again. "So give me a reason to."

Stunned as he was, he still managed an "Of course.", earning him a normal, goofy grin from the Tomasso Boss, his serious demeanour all but gone.

Byakuran grinned at him, which left him feeling slightly creeped out. "This is a dangerous game you're playing, Tsunayoshi-kun~."

Tsuna's expression turned the slightest bit wistful, "I have been playing this game ever since Reborn first set foot on my doorstep. I like to think I know the rules."

The albino's grin widened. "Enough to break them, that's for sure." He exchanged a look with Uni, who nodded, gentle smile in place. "Alright then. The Giglio Nero and the Gesso will play along."

"We will do our utmost to support you, Tsunayoshi. I'm looking forward to the world you're trying to create." she added, completing her signature in tandem with Byakuran.

On her other side, Enma had already closed his folder with a sheepish smile. "You already knew my answer even before I knew your plans. The Shimon will always have your back."

Dino did the same, now uncharacteristically serious, "The Cavallone will support the Vongola, as we always have." He looked him squarely in the eye, "Make good use of that."

Another folder slid to the centre of the table. "The Giegue are loyal allies to the Vongola. We also agree to this alliance."

It took a while, but finally, the Bovino Boss also agreed, if only because he didn't have much of a choice. He didn't look too pleased with it, but resignation and a bit of exasperation was also clear in his eyes.

He looked towards the remaining four Bosses, the true variables in this. Davois and Boggio seemed ambivalent. As for the other two-

"I refuse!" yelled Razza, "I will not be ordered around by an insolent, naïve boy who's about to doom his entire Famiglia to its destruction! This plan of yours has no chance of working out there in the cruel, hard world." He stood up. "The alliance with the Vongola has been beneficial to us for generations, but I see that is not the case anymore."

With that he left the room. He would be accompanied by his waiting second-in-command and some of the Vongola men assigned to escorting the Bosses out of the property.

Buccheri chose that moment to speak up and his voice held surprising authority, "I'm afraid I will also have to refuse. Not to be rude, but I can't see this working either. If you manage to pull it off I shall congratulate you, but I'm not willing to take the risks involved when my whole Famiglia is at stake."

Tuna nodded, if somewhat regrettably, "I understand. You may leave as well."

"Then I will." he walked up to the door, but stopped right in front of it. "Still, I wish you luck."

"Thank you." he replied just as the door closed behind the Colomba Don.

"I will have to think this over. Something like this will impact the entire underworld and I don't know if the Spada should really be involved." Davois frowned, but let no other sign of her discomfort at making such a decision show.

"I have to agree with the lady on this one. I'm certainly curious, but by no means stupid. Do you need an immediate answer or can I take my time observing where this all goes?" Boggio leaned back on his chair expectantly.

Honestly, Tsuna would've preferred to end this meeting with a definitive answer from everyone present, but he guessed this was better than a no. "Take your time, but please don't take too long. There's a limit to how long I can wait for a reply before crossing it off as a 'no'."

Both blonds nodded in acknowledgement, "Of course." answered Davois.

"We won't need too long. I just want to see if this can work."

"I will take my leave now."

"Me too! I'll be looking forward to it, Vongola."

Kosomov also moved to leave, "My business here is done. Until next time, Decimo." he was quickly followed by a grumbling Bovino.

The door closed.

Dino stood up and patted his back, "Wow, little bro. I didn't know you could act so professionally!"

Then, as if a switch had been flicked, Tsuna collapsed on his chair and rested his forehead on the cool table. "That was so nerve-wracking! Kami, was that intense. I can't even stand anymore!" he almost wailed.

Everyone else sweatdropped at the sudden change.

"It's okay, Tsuna-kun. You did really well." Enma tried to reassure him.

"Yeah, otherwise Reborn would kill you." Dino shuddered.

"Um, I don't think you're helping much, Signore Cavallone..." Uni tried to contain the situation.

"Right. Whoops. Oh, and don't call me signore or anything. Any friend of Tsuna's is a friend of mine, so please call me Dino."

She smiled, "Then call me Uni. It's nice meeting you."

"Likewise." he replied with a grin.

"Mou, I think you two have forgotten that we have a panicky clam on our hands." Byakuran interjected.

"Oi, Sawada-chan! I need to go. Mangusta will be mad if I take too long! I left the answer in the folder!"

"Uh-huh." he answered distractedly, still trying to convince himself that he had done well and Reborn wouldn't kill him in his sleep.

"Um, Tsuna-kun, this may not be the best time to ask, but where am I going to stay?"

This snapped the brunet out of his dark thoughts, much to relief of most and the amusement of Byakuran. "Oh, just ask a maid or a butler and tell them who you are. They were informed beforehand."

"Thanks! I'll go tell Adelheid."

"Oh, and Enma?"

The redhead blinked, "Yes?"

"Haru's been waiting for you."

A bright blush to match his hair and eyes spread over his cheeks, "I-I-I... she... it's l-like... w-we...um... yeah... bye."

Tsuna suppressed a snicker as the door slammed shut. His attention was however diverted to Uni as she spoke up. "About the proposals that came along with the alliance documents... we accept. I'm honoured that I was considered for your council, Tsunayoshi."

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Ah, well, it was sort of an obvious decision. I trust you and you have good judgement."

"But if I may ask... why him too?" she discreetly pointed at her white haired companion.

"Uhm, I had the feeling that he wouldn't leave me alone until I let him join too."

She stared for a moment, then broke into a rueful grin, "Yeah, that's actually very accurate."

"But I wonder about the others..."

"Well, you heard Signore Naito. He left his answer in the folder. I believe Kozato-san might have done the same."

"That makes sense." He nodded. "You know, you're surprisingly adaptive to different cultures."

"I pride myself in that."

Dino put in his two cents, "Oh, the council. I almost forgot. But you didn't need to ask, little bro. Of course I'd say yes!"

He chuckled, "Of course."

"Well, the meeting went quite well. Only two people refused!" Byakuran interrupted, clapping his hands in mocking amazement and bringing him back to previous thoughts.

Oh, right. Two of them had refused to join the alliance.

_Shit._

* * *

_It was dark._

_Very dark._

_He couldn't see his surroundings, all he saw was his own body, clad in the white shirt, black vest and black slacks that had become standard in the last few months._

_That and an endless sea of darkness._

_This place seemed small and enclosed yet infinite at the same time. But he dared not try that theory._

_He felt frozen in place._

_Turning around to search for something, anything, to use as an anchor, he startled when he spotted the figure standing behind him._

_Male._

_He was wearing a white, pin-stripped suit with a black shirt underneath and a grey, silky tie. Draped around his shoulders was an equally white cape, held together at the front by a silver chain._

_But this wasn't what drew his attention. No, it was the soft, orange glow emanating from his one visible eye, as he was looking to the side, away from him._

_It was mesmerizing. Beautiful even._

_But that profile, it seemed familiar somehow. Very familiar. Almost as if..._

_Out of the blue, the figure's head turned towards him and suddenly he could recognize the slim build, the light, unblemished skin, the wild, brown hair, the round face and wide, sharp eyes._

_He took a sharp breath as he zeroed in on the eyes. The right eye was normal, even if the glow was more eerie than warm. But the left eye..._

_Surrounding a calmly glowing iris from all sides was an unnatural black sclera that seemed to suck all light._

_Although different – cold, unfeeling – he did recognize this person._

_Before him stood... himself._

* * *

AN: whoo! new chapter! the idea of the heir came from detramental. I just found it interesting. And every boss needs a group of retired old timers to go against his every decision and force him into things he really doesn't want. otherwise it wouldn't be complete!

Oh, and the boss names came out of a random italian name generator. except for the obvious russian and french names. Scoglio means rock. Colomba means dove. Spada means sword. Argento means silver. Yes, all these OCs are in some way important. And a patronymic is a sort of middle name in Russia, only instead of a random name, it's the father's name with a gender-dependant ending. everyone has one.

And yes, that last scene is a dream.

I hope you enjoyed this one!

**Please leave a review on your way out. Thank you~.**


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